Is Usain Bolt one of the best sprinters of his generation?

He's definitely in the top 5 of all the sprinters over the last 10 years. It remains to be seen whether he can kick his career on. He needs to have a spell of dominance before we can start ranking him among the very best.

I wouldn't consider him the best of all time until he wins gold in 100, 200, 4x100 and long jump in one Olympics.

This has to be a troll. Bolt is one of the greatest sprinters ever. The only sprinter you could argue that they had a better career is Carl Lewis.

I'd say if he can steal at least a double gold in Rio then he can definitely make a case for top 5 all time.

I know Bolt had solid showings at the past few Olys and World Champs, but I don't think those meets had especially strong fields thanks to drug suspensions, injuries and the like. Bolt also had a false start at an inopportune time at one of those meets. He's managed to distinguish himself episodically and seems to be a notch above his fellow Jamaicans, but I'm not convinced he's earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as guys like Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson yet.

Massive Head Wound Harry wrote:

I know Bolt had solid showings at the past few Olys and World Champs, but I don't think those meets had especially strong fields thanks to drug suspensions, injuries and the like. Bolt also had a false start at an inopportune time at one of those meets. He's managed to distinguish himself episodically and seems to be a notch above his fellow Jamaicans, but I'm not convinced he's earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as guys like Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson yet.

Also worth noting that you can't really consider his times in this argument because his height gives him an unfair advantage

Asafa Powell and VCB were the Jamaican guinea pigs.

Then, Bolt is a better genetical version, is the conjunction and the final result of Jamaicans medical experiments.

Massive Head Wound Harry wrote:

I would argue that he is. His top times of 9.58 and 19.18 rank way up there and he's had decent success at the international level. A few more good years out of him and he'll be able to make a case for being one of the best sprinters of the 21st century and maybe even one of the true greats.

Thoughts?

Maybe 21st century, but not of all time!

BEN JOHNSON is the greatest sprinter ever! Smashed carl Lewis to pieces and he's still bitter to this day!

In an interview BEN JOHNSON said he could run 9.40 now due to quicker surfaces and he never hit his peak because he failed a drugs test because he got his drink spiked. If you look at his performances yearly he kept on getting quicker year by year if he didn't fail the drugs test, the rest would of been history!

YouTube rome 1987 100m and look at his sprint start! Need I say more he had a 9.4 in him and when he won Seoul 88 he jogged the end.

WHAT A LEGEND! AND HE'S THE MOST HUMBLE PERSON!

waving the canada flag wrote:

Maybe 21st century, but not of all time!

BEN JOHNSON is the greatest sprinter ever! Smashed carl Lewis to pieces and he's still bitter to this day!

In an interview BEN JOHNSON said he could run 9.40 now due to quicker surfaces and he never hit his peak because he failed a drugs test because he got his drink spiked. If you look at his performances yearly he kept on getting quicker year by year if he didn't fail the drugs test, the rest would of been history!

YouTube rome 1987 100m and look at his sprint start! Need I say more he had a 9.4 in him and when he won Seoul 88 he jogged the end.

WHAT A LEGEND! AND HE'S THE MOST HUMBLE PERSON!

What you say is true and Johnson likely would have run not only 9.40 but sub-19 for 200 if his career had not been unfairly cut short. In the world of sports, however, we can only look at what *is*, not what might have been. And as things stand, Bolt stands on the cusp of establishing himself as one of the very best sprinters of all time. Top 25 for sure and maybe top 10. He may be raw and untested for now, but 2015 could well prove to be a breakout year for him. If nothing else he's someone to watch -- that much, at least, is undeniable.

Just watched the video, all I can say is WOW!!!

+1. It's rare to see such a well reasoned post on the LRC but this is good accurate information. You really know sprinting.

Massive Head Wound Harry wrote:

I would argue that he is. His top times of 9.58 and 19.18 rank way up there and he's had decent success at the international level. A few more good years out of him and he'll be able to make a case for being one of the best sprinters of the 21st century and maybe even one of the true greats.

Thoughts?

I think he needs to run a world record and win a global title before we can consider him one of the best

Massive Head Wound Harry wrote:

I know Bolt had solid showings at the past few Olys and World Champs, but I don't think those meets had especially strong fields thanks to drug suspensions, injuries and the like. Bolt also had a false start at an inopportune time at one of those meets. He's managed to distinguish himself episodically and seems to be a notch above his fellow Jamaicans, but I'm not convinced he's earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as guys like Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson yet.

Solid showings?

2008 Olympics - 2 World Records

2012 Olympics - Olympic Record and 2nd fastest 100 of all time/ 4th fastest 200 of all time

He's only the 2nd athlete to ever defend a 100 Olympic title (behind Carl Lewis) and the ONLY athlete to defend a 200 Olympic title. Those are only "solid showings" to you?

He has more individual Olympic golds than Michael Johnson and more individual sprinting golds than Carl Lewis.

Massive Head Wound Harry wrote:

I know Bolt had solid showings at the past few Olys and World Champs, but I don't think those meets had especially strong fields thanks to drug suspensions....

This pisses me off. Drug cheats should not be competing. The fact that they are missing from the field does not make it weaker, it makes it fairer.

Nice troll attempt though...

Dude, you're a moron. This is a troll post. Lighten up.

need more hyperbole wrote:

gardettos wrote:

Solid showings?

2008 Olympics - 2 World Records

2012 Olympics - Olympic Record and 2nd fastest 100 of all time/ 4th fastest 200 of all time

He's only the 2nd athlete to ever defend a 100 Olympic title (behind Carl Lewis) and the ONLY athlete to defend a 200 Olympic title. Those are only "solid showings" to you?

He has more individual Olympic golds than Michael Johnson and more individual sprinting golds than Carl Lewis.

Dude, you're a moron. This is a troll post. Lighten up.

I'm sorry sir, I think the OP was trying to have an intellectual debate on Bolt's accomplishments compared to those of previous great sprinters.

Bolt's times are less than a half a second slower than those of Lewis and Michael Johnson also won a good amount of races like Bolt, so I think they're pretty equal. I'm not sure Bolt has really distinguished himself as better than those two yet

I just went back and watched some of Bolt's more famous races, and I have to say that he doesn't have ideal mechanics for a sprinter. He doesn't always get out of the blocks cleanly. He runs the turn OK i the 200, but he doesn't always pull away from the field with the authority you'd expect from a truly dominant dash man. There's just something missing there. If he's still winning races and doing his silly push-ups and doing that arrogant point-at-the-screen thing after his victories in another five or six years, then I think he'll be an athlete worth taking seriously. But for now he's like the LeBron James of track and field: He puts up okay numbers, but hasn't done anything to establish that he'll have anything resembling an enduring legacy in his sport. Hell, most people outside of Kingston have probably even never heard of Usain Bolt, even learned track coaches.

Bolt isn't even in my top 15 ranking of sprinters.

I won't consider him the best of all time until he races a Zebra and wins. I think it's kind of messed up that we don't allow other species to compete at the Olympics.