Usain Bolt-WOW!!!

[Big Johnny69]

This kid is unreal. 9.69 while still letting up near the finish. Simply unbelievable.

[fundonny]

I don't understand why Powell chokes in these things. Oh well. The dude is the fastest human ever, wow.

[jeffc]

yep...and he's only 21.....insane to think how fast this guy could go and how long he could dominate for.

[Big Johnny69]

yep...and he's only 21.....insane to think how fast this guy could go and how long he could dominate for.

I'm still not sure what I'm more impressed with. His actual time, or the fact he appears to be that much better than everyone else. Second place was 9.89. That probably would've won the race in any other year.

[jeffc]

he is in a class by himself right now

[jonf]

I find it really interesting that he's basically shown all assumptions about the ideal track athlete to be false. What I mean by that is, for the past ten years 100m sprinters have focused on bulking up these huge upper bodies to help them power through the race. Then Bolt comes along...tall, lanky...looks a lot more like a natural runner, and just runs so smoothly and effortlessly. He's not huge....he just knows how to run.

[little brit]

He is just ridiculous. He even dragged his foot at the start and looked like he could fall. Then he pretty much just relaxes through the end. Wow! I guess he wanted to leave something on the table to break next time.

[dbleber]

To bad he doesn't have any class. Letting up at the end, show boating around like a punk. I thought I was watching the NFL. Hate athelete's who can't win with some grace. He's fast, no doubt, but I'll remember that race for what an ass he is.

[jeffc]

To bad he doesn't have any class. Letting up at the end, show boating around like a punk. I thought I was watching the NFL. Hate athelete's who can't win with some grace. He's fast, no doubt, but I'll remember that race for what an ass he is.

I guess Donovan Bailey has no class then either. Actually his actions didn't bother me one bit.

[jonf]

To bad he doesn't have any class. Letting up at the end, show boating around like a punk. I thought I was watching the NFL. Hate athelete's who can't win with some grace. He's fast, no doubt, but I'll remember that race for what an ass he is.

Wow, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. It's called emotion. The guy just won the biggest race at the Olympics...he's allowed to be happy. It's refreshing to see an athlete out there having the time of his life. And he actually showed a lot of class in his post-race interviews, but you probably didn't stick around to watch that.

[dbleber]

Actually, I'm in London so I am driving on the wrong side of the road! It's the Olympics, not Monday night football. The guy had a pair of Golf plated shoes.....come on! Surprised he didn't pull a cell phone out or a pen. Throw the hands up, yell but don't act like a fool and show boat. I still can't believe that he let up and missed out on seeing how fast he could've been.

[jonf]

Actually, I'm in London so I am driving on the wrong side of the road!

Haha! I think he's got years to see just how fast he can be. He crushed the old record and made it look effortless. Could be an interesting few years in track and field. And, as the CBC commentators were remarking beforehand, one consistent thing with the 100m is all the athletes have a certain swagger - especially the good ones. That doesn't mean they can't be respectful of their fellow competitors. I personally thought that showed when he and Bailey embraced before his interview - a show of respect between the new and the previous record holder.

[EDSGOLF]

This guy is amazing.

[LBH]

CBC commentators said this guy could have easily ran this event in 9.40 seconds if he didn't "cruise" at the end - that would have 1/3 second faster than current world record. Insanity!!!

[LobWedge]

I find it really interesting that he's basically shown all assumptions about the ideal track athlete to be false. What I mean by that is, for the past ten years 100m sprinters have focused on bulking up these huge upper bodies to help them power through the race. Then Bolt comes along...tall, lanky...looks a lot more like a natural runner, and just runs so smoothly and effortlessly. He's not huge....he just knows how to run.

His junior coach tried to get him to run the 400 because he said he was too tall to be a sprinter, but Bolt said he wanted to run the 100. He's 6-3 or 4. Runs like a gazelle. He already had some of the fastest times in the world this year, and was pegged as the darkhorse for the gold.

[jonf]

His junior coach tried to get him to run the 400 because he said he was too tall to be a sprinter, but Bolt said he wanted to run the 100. He's 6-3 or 4. Runs like a gazelle. He already had some of the fastest times in the world this year, and was pegged as the darkhorse for the gold.

I don't know if you can say he was the darkhorse...he came in as the world record holder. Ran a 9.72 in May.

[LobWedge]

I don't know if you can say he was the darkhorse...he came in as the world record holder. Ran a 9.72 in May.

Yeah, I know, but SI had it pegged as more of a "one-off" and picked Powell and Gay to be the contenders.

[LBH]

Tyson Gay didn't even make the final - so much for that prediction!!! LOL

[sillywilly]

HE knows how fast he can run it, his coaches know how fast he can run it. The track, like the pool is juiced by the chinese. If he ran a 9.4 on that track, its a record he could likely never break again. When you go to a track meet you get big $$$ for breaking world records. He could break his own world record maybe 30 times which would bring him over 3-6mil dollars if its done at the right meets.

punk move?? All sprinters who have the race in the bag ease up.

Now we are going to watch him for the next 10 years to see if he can run a 9.4.... smart kid, not a punk at all

[jeffc]

that being said, he could have had a Bob Beamon moment - the long jumper in the 68 Olympics whose Olympic record still stands today. It took 23 years to break his WR but no one has beaten it at the Olympics since.

[sillywilly]

mike powel and carl lewis broke the record at the olymics I thought... anyway, be remember as the world record holder for 23 years or be remembered as the guy who broke the world record 20 times and cashed in 3mil doing it... like sergi bupka from russia

[LobWedge]

The track, like the pool is juiced by the chinese.

How do you figure that the pool and track are "juiced"? Are they tilting the pool in the direction the swimmers are going? Is the water thinner? Is the track loaded with springs? Or maybe the runners have a tow rope?

[jonf]

Well, I don't know if 'juiced' is the right term, but the consensus is that both the pool and the track are very 'fast'. I know that the track has to do with the surface they used, but can't say I understand exactly how the pool can be 'fast'. Just like speed skating though, where there is fast ice and slow ice, there are fast tracks and slow tracks.

[LobWedge]

Well, I don't know if 'juiced' is the right term, but the consensus is that both the pool and the track are very 'fast'. I know that the track has to do with the surface they used, but can't say I understand exactly how the pool can be 'fast'. Just like speed skating though, where there is fast ice and slow ice, there are fast tracks and slow tracks.

Yeah, but the term "juiced" has a negative connotation, and makes it seem that they are allowing the athletes to compete against the standard unfairly. If the pool and track have been engineered to create the ideal conditions that allow the athletes to perform at the highest level, then kudos to the Chinese for getting it right.

[sillywilly]

i havent looked into the track yet but did hear it was designed and something was done to the surface to make it much much faster. the pool is unreal. the made the pool 3 feet deeper than the standard pool which takes away some of the durbulance and makes for calmer waters. the also made the pool 2 lanes wider so the 8 swimmers are actaully in lanes 2-9 which makes for less turbulance as well and the biggest change? in a normal pool, water pushed out to the side or end of the pool would splash agaisnt the top of the pool and wave back into the pool in the opposite direction to which the swimmer was swinging... what they did was add these slits all around the pool so the water doesnt bounce back and instead is taken and put back into the pool from below with a pump system... so there is less turbulance and a slight upward water flow coming from the bottom of the pool. the slight upflow has the effect of incereasing each swimmers boyancy sure its great to smash evry world record but how can we compare new athletes to the old ones with juiced water and shark skin micro welded swimming suits? atleast in golf the courses get longer and harder to combat technology so scoring averages stay the same

[jeffc]

there are fast traks and slow tracks. just like some baseball stadiums favor pitchers, others, hitters. I believe it has to do with the material they use...even a small change could affect since you are measuring in hundreths of seconds.

[dblock]

very interesting... i knew something was up lol

[Sakuraba]

I can't believe he's named Bolt. Its like that Birdie Kim, not fair I say! Why did my parents name me Andrew? (well, sure I know if means manly, very apt I would say, but I digress)
Why didn't my parents call me Eagle? Ace? Putter? Dunk-master? Touchdown??
Argh.

[Foddz]

Be happy with what you've got. Remember, they could have named you 'Moonbase'.

[mpare]

Do we need another asterisk?

i havent looked into the track yet but did hear it was designed and something was done to the surface to make it much much faster. the pool is unreal. the made the pool 3 feet deeper than the standard pool which takes away some of the durbulance and makes for calmer waters. the also made the pool 2 lanes wider so the 8 swimmers are actaully in lanes 2-9 which makes for less turbulance as well and the biggest change? in a normal pool, water pushed out to the side or end of the pool would splash agaisnt the top of the pool and wave back into the pool in the opposite direction to which the swimmer was swinging... what they did was add these slits all around the pool so the water doesnt bounce back and instead is taken and put back into the pool from below with a pump system... so there is less turbulance and a slight upward water flow coming from the bottom of the pool. the slight upflow has the effect of incereasing each swimmers boyancy sure its great to smash evry world record but how can we compare new athletes to the old ones with juiced water and shark skin micro welded swimming suits? atleast in golf the courses get longer and harder to combat technology so scoring averages stay the same