'Greatest athlete of all time' -- Usain Bolt -- sets world record time of an 9.58 second 100M in Berlin

Jamaica's Usain Bolt once again lowered the world 100M record by a full 0.10 seconds from his 2008 Beijing Olympics mark to an astonishing 9.58 in the Berlin IAAF world championships yesterday.  Bolt's startling times ignited world controversies about the legitimacy of his mark.  However, controversy is all naysayers have at this point.  Bolt has never tested positive for PEDs, had never been caught in a buy, and has never admitted to illegal drug use.  Nonetheless, obliterating world marks in the 100M with astonishing regularity is such an incredible feat, doubters are working overtime.  (from the Telegraph)

That's what athletic miracles do today. They bring as much suspicion as awe, as much skepticism as joy. Yet, while Bolt was being hailed by the head of world athletics Lamine Diack as the greatest athlete of all time, the subject of all the frenzy, last seen being pursued by screaming fans down Jesse-Owens-Allee outside the stadium, just ignored it all.

A breakdown of the Bolt run goes like this:

It is the "you never know" bit which he knows tantalises us. Yesterday, the biomechanical analysts from the IAAF produced a statistical breakdown of the final which suggested that what we saw in Sunday was Bolt's Bob Beamon moment, a barrier-shattering, never-to-be repeated annihilation of the sport's blue riband record. But you never know...

Eleven hundredths of a second slashed off the mark in one hit was sprinting's equivalent of the moment in Mexico City in 1968 when long jumper Beamon decided to bypass the 28ft barrier altogether as he took the world record to 29ft 2½in with one leap.

But the IAAF's split times confirmed that Bolt's astounding improvement on the 9.69sec record he had set exactly a year earlier in Beijing was due almost entirely to the fact that this time he did not showboat over the last few of his 41½ strides as he had done in China.

He was actually slower over the first 20m than in Beijing (2.89sec to 2.87sec) but what made the vast difference was his lack of concentration as he covered the final 40m in Beijing in 3.37sec. On Sunday, in contrast, he covered the equivalent stretch in 3.27sec, a whole tenth of a second quicker. Between 60m and 80m, he topped 46kph (28.58mph).

There was one quick look right and a glance left towards the clock, so perhaps he could even have gone a fraction quicker but, realistically, there looks to be no section of the race where he can in future trim off more than the odd hundredth of a second at a time. He has just made those $100,000 (£60,700) world-record bonuses hellishly difficult to annex now.

Until proved otherwise, the Bolt record must be considered legitimate.  The athlete apparently has the neuro-muscular development to produce stride frequency times stride length to generate sprint speeds never achieved in recorded history at sanctioned track meets.

 All the logical arguments in the world about doping hold no merit if the athlete maintains clean testing.  Other factors come into play -- a better track surface, improved shoes, perfect conditions,  high quality competition -- to push these world records into new territory.

There was a Roger Maris to beat Babe Ruth's single season home run record.  There was a Mike Powell to surpass Bob Beamon's long jump record.  It appears the thrust of DNA and technology to lower or lengthen previous marks in performance.  Thus, it is not impossible to go where no man has gone before in history.  Just damn tough to do it twice.

Comments

[tennis roids]

I have to strongly disagree. You could have said the same about Marion Jones or Ben Johnson or Barry Bonds or any number of athletes who were obviously juiced. Bolt has the muscular look of a juiced up athlete, he is running ridiculous times that beat even previous steroid enhanced athletes, there was a recent doping scandal among Jamaican track athletes and their athletes seem to be performing better than anyone else. Are we to believe they make special shoes in Jamaica?

[x]

to tennis roid
the jamaican tested positive to a stimulant ie a minor drug
he is not that muscular as you make it seems

[tennis roids]

To X:
His shoulders have too much size and definition. He looks 'roided. A stimulant is not a minor drug. If you take PED's you take PED's. Are you saying that they're okay with taking stimulants but draw the line at steroids? Either you follow the rules or you don't. Do you have an explanation for why the Jamaican runners are suddenly so dominant? What special training method or equipment are they using that the others aren't?
Look, you have a muscular guy running a time beyond belief on a team that has suddenly become dominant and has had some PED positive tests. It doesn't look good. Face it.

[Hep]

We have to remember that there is not a test for HGH and IGF (insulin like growth factor). IGF has been difficult to obtain but first IGF product has been on the market from 2007. Both would enhance effects of steroids and perhaps diminish the amount of steroids used. These experiments are done between athletes and coaches not in scientific studies.

All three medallists have a look of users of PEDs

[DV]

High profile, for the last year, Usain Bolt and Lance Armstrong too, have been very high profile. Perhaps extraordinary humans come now and then. We will see. Bolt certainly is very muscular.

[MICHAEL GREN]

BOLT IS MOST CERTAINLY ON PED'S IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM. THERE ARE SOPHISTICATED MASKING DRUGS EASILY AVAILABLE FROM CHINA. A YOUNG LANKY KID(HE WAS A SKINNY TEENAGER!) COULD NOT POSSIBLY GET SHOULDER MUSCLES OF THAT DENISTY AND SIZE! OTHER ATHELETES HAVE OBSERVED THAT HE NEVER APPEARS TIRED EVEN AFTER A NUMBER OF HEATS. HE IS RELATIVELY NEW TO THE 100 METRES BUT HAS RUN THOSE TIMES. ONCE FOUND OUT AND MADE TO RUN WITHOUT THEM, LIKE THE OTHER CHEATS, HE WILL LOOK ORDINARY.

[Raffaele Panzeri]

We have to come to terms...bolt is simply different. The body is different, he is taller, long muscles, natural athlete. This time it is just a question of genes. Look at the others, they need the double amount of muscles in order to compensate the lack of height and stride. This time I am 100% sure and I have no doubt, Bolt is just a giant running fast, just as simple as that.

[Gullible TV Head]

Natural? Is that some kind of joke?

PED's have been omnipresent in track and field since the late 1960's/early 70's. Here we are, 40 years later, and people are still claiming that t&f record setters are clean. Exactly how stupid do you have to be to think that? Mentally retarded? Need help tying your shoes, or going to the john? Figure it out already.

Human beings have not changed in 4000 years, much less 40. What exactly has changed in the 100m in the last 40 years? Tracks, training, food? Answer--not much. The only thing that has progressed much in the last 40 years is PED chemistry. Hence, that's what I choose to believe is responsible for faster times. Practically all record holders in the 100m in the last 25 years have been proven drug cheats. Why think these new ones are clean?

"Innocent until proven guilty" is for trials and going to jail, not for public opinion. This Bolt and all the rest in that 100m final were built like bodybuilders. They're ALL on roids. Holy crap, all sports are full of this junk. I'm sick of the dolts who think otherwise.

Maybe a new group of gullible couch potatoes could be formed to cheer on these chemistry experiments. They could call themselves "Dolts for Bolt". At least that would be honest.

[tennis roid fan]

Bolt failed to qualify for the finals in the youth world championships in 2001. If he were a "natural athlete" and performance were attributed to a different body, why wasn't he breaking records at every age group?

[mr magoo]

People say Bolt runs so fast because he is so tall and has long stride length . However in reality his size should actually be a disadvantage. There is the reason throughout history that most sprinters are usually around 5'10-6'2 or thereabouts. Infact his stature probably lends itself to gain more from peds than shorter more naturally muscular athletes.
However my skepticism lies more with the Jamaican women.Women tend to proportionately gain more from peds . Much has been said about Jamaicans being natural athletes and having a history good sprinters.
Well prior to the Beijing 2008 there were 6 individual Jamaican female sprinters who made the 100m or 200m Olympic finals in 60 YEARS at the Olympics and in 2008 , one year ,they have four - each getting a medal! In the 2009 Worlds 100m finalists - 4 from 2.5 million pop.Jamaica and 4 from 6.6 Billion pop.Rest ofthe World.
Dont get me wrong I do think they have good genetics and talent. Don Quarrie was a dream of a sprinter to watch . But come on !They must be real good yams they are growing now.

[Michael Williams]

Tennis Roid Bolt did not qualify for the 2001 World Championship because he did not try out for the Jamaican team back then. Bolt was 14 years old in 2001. Bolt did not make the team as you suggested. For your info Bolt won the 2002 Junior championship 200m in Kingston. The winner of the 2001 world youth championship is Mr. Darrel Brown of Trinidad and Tobago. The internet is available a wonderful source of information. If you need to be pointed to the IAAF site for the 2001 world youth championship http://www2.iaaf.org/WYC01/

[x]

bolt father is tall and muscular similar to bolt is he using PED?
he stop doing athletics from high school
MAYBE he didnt use to run the 100m BUT Im sure he use to do it in training since he was a kid , so he must have some idea that he was fast
because I heard his high school coach saying he hand time Bolt runing 10.1(in trainig) many times when he was 15 , but hid it because he wanted him to continue doing the 200m and 400m

no stimulant is against the rules but its dont enhance perfarmance hence its not a PED

[x]

Jamaica use to be up in the finals and top 3 (for the sprints) for about 30 years on the female side so its not all of a sudden they start to dominate, its just thr time maybe maybe bahamas , trinidad, Usa will start to in the next couple of years

the male side always have a couple very good sprinters(10.0s) but better was just around

Also the males are not dominating the male sprints its just usain bolt alone from jamaica (fastest in the 1 and 2)

because they are taking the glamour events gives the illusion of dominating, which is not the case

[x]

Finally
how much seconds can PED minus from your "natural speed" for a male
I suspect 0.20s
so add 0.20 to 9.58 thats about 9.78
so his natural base would be somewhere around 9.80 about
Im sure if he was consistently running that time you guys would say he was "roided"

anyway its obvious he have a alot of natural talent so I wont waste anymore time thinking about if he is using it or not
HE MAY WELL BE DOING IT
becuz as a stated earlier he and his father have about the same body type define shoulders the whole works

[David]

I don't believe any of the sub 9.9 guys are clean. It seems like PEDs are part of an unwritten rule at the top level.

People talk about Bolt's height and being able to achieve the same turnover as the other athletes as the reason for his incredible times. What are the biomechanical reasons for Shelly-Ann Fraser running the 3rd fastest time in history, because she is tiny.

I remember Ben Johnson saying it's not physically possible to do the training clean as the body would just break after 6 or 7 weeks and then I think about Asafa Powell saying the Brit Simeon Williamson was lazy. Is he lazy or is it the lack of juice in his system that means he can't keep up with the demands of the Jamaican training?

My biggest worry now is that Bolt is untouchable i.e. it would cause too much damage to the sport to have him test positive so he will be protected, similar to Carl Lewis in '88.

[DV]

I've heard people say Bolt is a lot like Bob Hayes was and a runner like Hayes was. I guess, since Hayes was a football player, he must have been a big man and he was called the fastest in the world. I'll pass on discussion of the PED issue. We will see.

[Gullible TV Head]

As far as how much you can shave off your time by doing PED's, Ben Johnson went from 9.8 to 10.4 when he went off them. That's 0.6 seconds, not 0.2.

The range is probably 0.5 to 0.7 seconds improvement in 100m times with PED's. That's a whole lot! From 9.6 to 10.1 or 10.3. The difference from being the fastest human ever to being world class but never making a 100m final.

[X]

NO Gullible Head

ben johnson was a 10.0s sprinter, he ran this time behind allan wells at age 20 in the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia (check it out) then jump down to 9.79

when he return he was thirty plus way pass his prime age
even the boss BALCO said that is the amount of time a male can shave off best, the females can shave off more

[DV]

A bit off topic, but I see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1207653/Womens-800m-gold-medal-favourite-Caster-Semenya-takes-gender-test-hours-World-Championship-race.html This South African runner made the Drudge Report per some folks questioning if she was a he...

[Gullible TV Head]

X,

How do you know that he was clean in '82? Maybe he was using some other PED's and switched to something better?

All I know is that when he came back, that was what he was running.

Another good example of the 0.5 to 0.7 range of improvement is Donovan Bailey, who mysteriously went from a 10.4 down to the mid 9.8's in a couple of years. Wonderful improvement, no? I'm sure it was from hard work, turning down that dessert tray, and doing a few extra bench presses. Yes.

It just goes to show that I'm not the only gullible TV head out there.

[Annie]

LOL, you ppl are so riduculous......forwarding in a post by

posted by Your Boy OT on Aug 18 2009
As a media professional, one thing I have learnt is to get my facts correct before I open my mouth to speak or try to pen an article. Let me set some records straight here: FACT: the substance the "now Famous Five" tested positive for is not a banned substance and is proposed to be added to the list of banned substances for 2010. FACT: substance commonly found in most over the counter food supplements and was in fact found in "one" common supplement that four of the five were using following recommendations and appropriate research into it's legality. FACT: only two Jamaican athlete in the history of Jamaican athletics have ever tested positive for banned substances and they were never frontline representatives of Jamaica on the world stage.....one in TRACK and one in FIELD disciplines. FACT: One of Jamaica's most famous daughters and most decorated female sprinter on the WORLD stage MERLNE JOYCE OTTEY suffered at the hands of drug cheats the world over especially the AMERICANS and competed at the highest level for over 30 years and never failed a DRUG TEST. FACT: Jamaican athletes are among the most tested athletes in the world at any event. It's a wonder they still have the strength to compete after all the blood they have to give. FACT: Drug testing has evolved to the taking of both BLOOD and URINE samples, thereby eliminating the possibility of of banned substances being detected as all things absorbed into the blood stream is detectable. Believe it or not it's DNA testing on a much wider scale all in the name of SPORTS. FACT: none of the SIX athletes(including ASAFA POWELL) whom you alluded to being involved in drug use has ever taken, are currently taking or ever tested positive for a banned substance. FACT: none of JAMAICA's top athletes have ever failed a DRUG TEST after countless championships, Meets etc..... So my friend, please make an effort to attain the facts, do your research thoroughly before writing disparaging articles about any athlete or person or interest, JAMAICAN, AMERICAN or otherwise. PS FACT: several top American, British, Canadian athletes are either Jamaican born or of Jamaican parentage, yes even the disgraced Ben Francis. Make sure you include Donovan Bailey, Sanya Richards, Lyndford Christie in the list of Top athletes.

source: www.234next.com

[DV]

Ppl need to chill on this. It ends up stepping on each others toes.

We have some sort of aquatic theme park near here and last summer, some Jamaicans got summer jobs there. They were nice. I still keep up with them. We are all very nice to each other.

Athletes across the spectrum of all sports are suspect to varying degrees and if not in drugs, then in other ways that bring the sport down, gambling, diving in soccer, rough play in basketball, etc. etc.. If someone is using PEDs, they may well be found out and if not, many will wonder about these astonishing times anyway. It's not like I think it's so important to bring some sports figure down.

[ECM]

So this guy is, naturally, much faster than the known drug cheats?? Is that what you guys defending Bolt are saying?

I'm not saying he's absolutely on something (I'm no expert, just a guy that likes to lift a lot--w/o PEDs!), but it strains credulity to believe that this man, in a sport literally awash in PEDs, is destroying the performances of past, known, juicers with seeming ease. Doesn't anybody else find it a little unlikely that this could be the case? Does it actually pass the 'smell' test? Is it really unreasonable to think, given these facts, that, odds are, he's on something?

[Gullible TV Head]

Annie,

Its a good thing that "media professional" is named! Now we know that the material you posted is indeed TRUE and VERIFIABLE. Thank you so much for that! Sourced material is very important!

[Dan]

In two years he lowered his 200m time by .7 of a second after finishing second to Gay in 2007. Michael Johnson's 200m time was so ridiculous it was thought to be inhuman. Now we have seen that ridiculous time beaten twice by only one man who just 1.5 years ago couldn't even come close to it. I know he has never tested positive, but neither has Barry Bonds.