Down goes Powell! Down goes Powell! (again)

Powell is DONE.

Take a look at that video--what you see is a LOT of arm movement, vintage Powell--but it doesn't translate to force on the track surface! Very inefficient. He's flailing and burning up a ton of energy without really going anywhere like he used to.

It really shows when he hits transition, which is exactly when he bails.

EVEN IF he could get healthy this year to the point where he could finish a race, I don't think he would be a factor. I think he would get out to an only-decent first 50m, and then franken-finish to a not-sub-10 time.

I think it is time to completely write him off as finished. He might try to make some cash this year by running, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him retire very soon.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Powell is DONE.

Take a look at that video--what you see is a LOT of arm movement, vintage Powell--but it doesn't translate to force on the track surface! Very inefficient. He's flailing and burning up a ton of energy without really going anywhere like he used to.

It really shows when he hits transition, which is exactly when he bails.

EVEN IF he could get healthy this year to the point where he could finish a race, I don't think he would be a factor. I think he would get out to an only-decent first 50m, and then franken-finish to a not-sub-10 time.

I think it is time to completely write him off as finished. He might try to make some cash this year by running, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him retire very soon.

Since the only person to respond (apart from me) to your message is you - and over a week elapsed, it's safe to conclude that no-one gives a flying sh*t what you think.

Powell is done what?

Certainly not done getting injured.

BTW Jeter is running at Pre, along with Felix, SAFP, Tiana (used to be Madison). No mention of mens entries. And The Real Walter Dix is talking about music videos. He has an A form Oxy, but with his last time (10.30) I'm not sure he could make the NCAA final this year.

If they can't come up with 3 more bodies, Tyson's race in the finals won't even count as a race by IAAF rules.

He's done sprinting at the highest level. He is officially now an also-ran.

When did Jeter's name appear on the startlist?! WTF is up with that? First she blows her ham and then a quad, and all of a sudden she is racing?

EITHER:

1) she faked her earlier injuries

2) she was actually injured and did a massive cycle of drugs to heal quickly

3) she was and still is actually injured and will line up to get an appearance fee, take a couple of weak steps and bail

4) you have the wrong information.

Well, we will soon see.

Jeter is presently on the start list for Pre, and I'm afraid the real answer might be:

(5) Trying to come back too early (again). She has an A so I don't know why she would come back before USATFs...except for the money. But if she injures it now, I think its safe to say she's out as far as making the US team. Could be that they've already decided that she won't make it to worlds this year, so she's going to try to make what she can.

I don't think anyone here noticed that Felix ran a 11.01 or 11.02 100m split in Manchester, with a bad start (surprise!). She has said that she wants to try to win a 100m medal, so with Jeter out (my opinion only) this year could be her chance.

in honor of Jeter and Powell, RIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnL3rfBBrYE

TARMOH

'When did Jeter's name appear on the startlist?! WTF is up with that? First she blows her ham and then a quad, and all of a sudden she is racing?

EITHER:

1) she faked her earlier injuries

2) she was actually injured and did a massive cycle of drugs to heal quickly

3) she was and still is actually injured and will line up to get an appearance fee, take a couple of weak steps and bail

4) you have the wrong information.'

Agree apart from 2) there is no miracle cure onless it was cramp. She was out of shape in winter when she showed up with that wig thing and still looked off the pace here until she pulled up suddenly

She's used to acting so should be nor problem

'When did Jeter's name appear on the startlist?! WTF is up with that? First she blows her ham and then a quad, and all of a sudden she is racing?

EITHER:

1) she faked her earlier injuries

2) she was actually injured and did a massive cycle of drugs to heal quickly

3) she was and still is actually injured and will line up to get an appearance fee, take a couple of weak steps and bail

4) you have the wrong information.'

Agree apart from 2) there is no miracle cure onless it was cramp. She was out of shape in winter when she showed up with that wig thing and still looked off the pace here until she pulled up suddenly

She's used to acting so should be nor problem

coach d wrote:

Jeter is presently on the start list for Pre, and I'm afraid the real answer might be:

(5) Trying to come back too early (again). She has an A so I don't know why she would come back before USATFs...except for the money. But if she injures it now, I think its safe to say she's out as far as making the US team. Could be that they've already decided that she won't make it to worlds this year, so she's going to try to make what she can.

Jeter is already on the team being the defending world champion.

d--

So that would be (3):

3) she was and still is actually injured and will line up to get an appearance fee, take a couple of weak steps and bail

I think that's a good bet.

Couple of possibilities:

(1) They (John Smith) know that she can't take time off to fully heal and get back in form (sub-11) to make US Team with heats, and the with heats part is what's important. But she can run a race every couple of weeks, rest up enough to do it again, and repeat. No WC, but cash in the bank.

(2) She goes out, does a light workout and feels ok. JS says, "your ham isn't really healed," but she won't listen to him. This I think is what's going on. So as a 10.64-10.85 sprinter she goes to Shanghai and runs 11.18, because it really isn't ready yet.

(3) Nike says, "We don't care if you're only 90%. This is OUR meet and you MUST get your butt out there. Read the Damn Contract..."

Time for Allyson and Tianna to make a statement. Tianna needs the A standard out of this race I believe. No way Allyson is going to just mail it in with both VCB and SAFP in the race.

No Gay (obviously), Bolt, Blake, Powell...so I don't think the mens 100 will be worth watching.

Optimus wrote:

Jeter is already on the team being the defending world champion.

I thought that was SAFP, but if Jeter is in, that makes what she's doing super idiotic. She should be letting the injury heal, or she's really going to screw her championships.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Powell is DONE.

Take a look at that video--what you see is a LOT of arm movement, vintage Powell--but it doesn't translate to force on the track surface! Very inefficient. He's flailing and burning up a ton of energy without really going anywhere like he used to.

It really shows when he hits transition, which is exactly when he bails.

EVEN IF he could get healthy this year to the point where he could finish a race, I don't think he would be a factor. I think he would get out to an only-decent first 50m, and then franken-finish to a not-sub-10 time.

I think it is time to completely write him off as finished. He might try to make some cash this year by running, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him retire very soon.

Except for relays, Powell has not been that relevant for the last couple of years. I would not say he is done, but repeated injuries usually points towards the end of a sprinter's career. With that said, I would not say he is done, but being that the Jamaican trials are only 2 weeks away, it is doubtful that he will make it in the open 100m with only one spot available. I would not be surprised if he does not make it into the relay pool either with so many young athletes who are hungry.

TrackCoach: "With that said, I would not say he is done, but being that the Jamaican trials are only 2 weeks away, it is doubtful that he will make it in the open 100m with only one spot available. I would not be surprised if he does not make it into the relay pool either with so many young athletes who are hungry."

That is exactly what I mean when I say that "he is done".

In addition to that, there are likely to be all sorts of athletes from all sorts of countries who can now beat him, and that is really the final sign of a career being finished, as well as a regularly sub-10 guy not going under 10 anymore.

In contrast to Collins, who is still around only 10-flat basic, but who is as good as he ever was, is still the best in his country, and who still beats international competition. Collins has a unique utility--who better to destroy Chambers than a 37-year-old Collins and a young, pasty, white Frenchman? I don't know what hurt Chambers more--probably the Frenchman, lol

Not done yet meaning getting healthy for July/August DL meets. Powell is still a big name, he has to makes a living and if he can get in 10 flat shape, he can get into any meet he wants. He ran sub-9.9 less than a year ago, I suspect when healthy he is still good for a sub-10. However, I do think his days of wearing green & yellow in an open 100 is over with.

IMHO:

Check out Powell's form in Ostrava, 9.83 into a headwind, slow-mo at 2:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isZcheJIj28

See his beautifully high hip carriage, and how he seems to be dancing down the track. He got his separation in that race in the transition/top speed phase.

Right off the blocks he was nice and high, which set him up for a perfect transition and late drive phase. And by perfect, I mean perfect. Flawless.

Contrast that to the recent race in Jam where he pulled up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwV3xUvOB_I

His hips aren't in the right position coming off the blocks. He looks like he is fighting to develop power to the track, because he is in an entirely wrong position to do so. He looks to me like a guy tangled in a big net, trying to get out--anything but smooth.

His position doesn't allow him to plant his foot at the right spot relative to his CG--he's planting it too far forward, and muscling it rearward, rather than making sure it lands in the right place where rearward force is applied to the track as soon as contact is made, as is visible in the Ostrava vid.

I don't even know if he was injured in that race--he could have bailed because he burned up so much energy trying to get out of that net that he knew it wasn't worth continuing and risking real injury as a result.

Point is that his position coming off the blocks was all wrong--as a result he was muscling it, and was not in a position to develop any speed in late drive/transition. Had he continued to run, there is absolutely no way he would have won that race, because late drive/transition is his bread and butter. In the last part of his race he can only hold onto whatever speed he has developed in that phase, and in this race, it wasn't there. He wouldn't have come even near breaking 10.

Why not? What is the problem? Injury could be one thing. More likely is lack of preparation, maybe due to inability to train well because of injury. He doesn't currently have the physical ability to start/drive like he used to, but he hasn't made any form adjustments to account for his decreased capacity.

That can be a good thing, IF he is on the road to health--why practice form that is conducive to performing with a lower ability, when you intend to achieve the higher ability necessary to make use of the good form? However, if he is not on the road to a great state of health, then he needs to learn to adjust, and to "run with his injury", which would include a slightly different start and drive mechanic.

That said, with the finishing ability he fails to show, with a different start/drive mechanic, there is no way he is going under 10.

So we have 2 possible clean scenarios:

1) he doesn't run, and tries to heal. No sub-10, since he isn't running.

2) he continues to run injured while using his healthy form. No sub-10, since he's fighting himself down the track.

If he is genuinely injured, I don't see him going sub-10 anytime soon, unless he does whatever is required to heal super-quickly, if that is even possible given the nature of his injuries.

Check out the brief interview with Powell after he bails from the race, and you will see a tired, defeated guy, adrift in a sea of questions with no answers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKs8jdjLU6M

The interviewer advances the idea of a ham cramp, and Powell accepts that line of discussion. Whatever. He said he felt great in training, and just wanted to see where he was.

The answer? Nowhere.

Hey Asafa, I feel great in training, too.

I love/hate Powell, but I really think he's done for good. He lost the mental ability a while ago, now he's lost the physical ability as well.

If he still had the mental ability, I would suggest that he could regain the physical ability if he had whatever treatment/surgery was required--but the basic problem is that he DOESN'T have the required mental ability to go through that and come out the other end successfully.

I would try, if I were him--even if he would never be as good as he was, if instead of going 9.7x he would go 9.8x and be able to compete and stay healthy, that seems like a good deal to me.

I think he's tired of the whole game, and wants to do something else. The love isn't there. The desire isn't there. The drive isn't there. He's the fastest guy on earth who doesn't care.

[quote]Sprintgeezer wrote:

You have to be very careful at Powell's level and age, an injury can be just feeling a twinge; I have not heard anything about a pull or even a strain. I would not be surprised to see him running this summer even if he is not 100%. Powell has to eat and in a season, he can earn $200G for just lining up; I watched Mo Green milk the system for his last 2 years. And, if the former WR holder can't break 10, his career is over with...only Europeans are allowed to have a career when you can't run sub-10.