Athletics o_O

[karohemd]

So I watched the highlights of today, incl. the qualifying heats for the men's 100m sprint. Congrats to Team GB for getting one into the semis, the Germans were left well behind!
And then there's this Jamaican guy, Bolt (how appropriate is that name?). During his heat, he slowed down after about 40m and finished the race at a leisurely jog, still making it well under 10s. What is that guy capable of if he actually goes at full pelt? I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Comments

[echo-echo.livejournal.com]

I had never seen anything like Bolt before. 9.92 would have demolished the world record not so many years ago and he cruised through like he was a gazelle. You can see it in the replay, his legs just aren't moving as fast as the other guys, he looks around, totally relaxed and yet he clocks a staggeringly fast time. Astonishing.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods* Michael Johnson said in the programme that Bolt (by normal conventions) shouldn't actually be that fast because he's so tall and has such a long stride which usually makes getting up to speed difficult. It's true, if you look at past champions, most have been compact types. For some reason, Bolt makes it work. IIRC, Carl Lewis was quite tall and leggy but that was over 20 years ago and he did the long jump as well.