Is MJ's 19.32 really that incredible?

i think your sydney times are a little optimistic

i see mj winning in perhaps 19.6 ( capel very close ) & mo in about 19.7, but i don't think much better

mj had gone 19.71A that year & ran about 19.9 in semis of trials where capel matched him - he didn't look significantly better than capel on evidence of that & he was also getting very long in the tooth for a 200 guy

mo always faded in last 25 - 50m of a 200 & definitely nowhere as good over 200 as 100 - 19.7 looked fare value for him but not better

if anything, capel was unlucky one - if not for terrible start in sydney ( he thought it was a false start & looking for a recall ) - he was definitely looking for a 19.7 or maybe even into 19.6s

Why people still think Mo Greene would ever be a factor in the 200 amuses me. This is a guy who ran below 20s 1 or 2 times in his carreer, and that was based only on his first 100.

Stating that Greene would come second to Johnson with a time of 19.49 is, to say the least, not the best way to show you understand anything of sprinting. Especially when you take into account that both Bolt and Powell have better 100 times then Greene, don't have to carry along all the muscle bulk Greene put on that short frame of his and have far more athletic ability (same goes for Carl Lewis btw, but he was a dominant 200 man in a different era).

When Greene was the WC, where was the competition; Boldon, Johnson, Fredericks... running 19.90 with a 1.2 m/s tailwind cannot ever be compared with what Bolt is doing this season, let alone with Johnson's time in Atlanta.

Greene was a 100m man, nothing more then that...got lucky one time, but don't make more of that than it is.

If the fact that the 2nd fastest time ever run by anyone is .30 seconds behind the WR isn't enough to make you think it's amazing, then how about the fact that even the what-if situations put the next closest at .15s back? And that the guy at .15s back is MJ again!

Both Johnson and Greene cramped up during trials because of their great sub 19.6 shape...uhuh. I think that had more to do with both of them likely losing to Capel.

The 19.32 however is another example what the human body can do when all conditions are perfect. Remember a guy named Bob Beamon.....;-)

Doping can make you do incredible things

Based on his 100M time, I think Bolt will run low 19.3+

Maurice Greene 19.49?

No way.

Carl Lewis had the ability to run under 19.5 for 200m, he just didn't respect the event (cared more about the 100m and LJ). There is no way that the Lewis ever properly prepared for the 200m, it was always an afterthought to pad his medal tally. I think that Donovan Bailey could have run a good 200m as well, but he hated the event, and again wasn't prepared to train for it - why should he if he is the 100m champion?

Michael Johnson actually (since he was a 200/400m guy) prepared properly - speed endurance/endurance etc. - for the event, that is why he is so far ahead, even though others potentially as fast or faster aren't even close. Johnson also couldn't move down, as I'm sure that he would have preferred, since he seemed to get injured racing 100's.

Now along comes Bolt - who started off as a 200/400m guy, so has a good conditioning base. Bolt may never go back up to the 400m now after the Olympic 100m result. He can probably run very fast over 200m right now, but will lose that capacity if he doesn't continue do the proper work for it - the 200m isn't just a longer version of the 100m.

Of course it is. Easy to remember. That's why its my ATM code.

Now along comes Bolt and after watching him in the 200 quarters, I know I'll have to change it soon. Hey, I was changing banks anyway....

Well opening up with 10.12 for the first 100M and finishing in 19.32 at the largest stage in the world.I would say that is what makes it special.Watch and appreciate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zHfLSZ82_4

glt wrote:

But what is incredible? That MJ is so far ahead, or that the other times are so far behind?

I expect that in the next year or so, times will be posted that will fill in this gap.

the 200 time is weak because sprinters are lazy.

most of them can't run around the twice two times without puking.

the record should be in the 18's no doubt, but it's a meaningless record anyway.

too short.

glt wrote:

Based on his 100M time, I think Bolt will run low 19.3+

Quite possible. But I do think Bolt's height and long stride put him at a disadvantage in the turn.

MJ could really crank out the turnover, and he had this compact style which seemed the epitomy of efficiency.

Obviously you have no idea what it takes to be a sprinter and how sprinters' muscles work. You distance runners can run for a long time because when you take a stride only part of your muscles actually fire, so the next stride different fibers fire so the last ones get a break. For every 2 strides you take your muscles only take 1. When a sprinter runs all of our muscle fibers fire all the time, that is how we get so much power and why we tire out faster. When we gain endurance it involves changing those muscle fibers from fast twitch to slow twitch, so we can no longer run as fast and with the same power as before.

And for your information, MJ ran 35 miles per week when he set that record. So that means a 10K runner needs to be running... 1750 miles per week to get the same training miles-to-race distance ratio.

people are going to realize how incredible MJ's record is when bolt doesn't even come within .2 seconds of it in the final. it is so far out there compared to anything else that its almost beyond comprehension. the only other record that compares is radcliffe's 215. bolt can get it if he concentrates on it, he is only 21. i think meet promoters and his agent will just want him to run the 100 now though because that is where the money is. he will get a better appearance fee to run the 100 than the 200 so it might be on the backburner for him. and you can forget about him running the open 400 seriously ever again. he might jump in a relay sometime but his 400 days are over.

MarathonMind wrote:

glt wrote:

Based on his 100M time, I think Bolt will run low 19.3+

Quite possible. But I do think Bolt's height and long stride put him at a disadvantage in the turn.

MJ could really crank out the turnover, and he had this compact style which seemed the epitomy of efficiency.

So far he's lit up the best curve runner in the world from the inside lanes.

I don't think his long stride has shown to be a disadvantage.

"Doping can make you do incredible things"

If you doped you still would not be able to do anything.

There has never been a sub 10.10/44.00 sprinter other than MJ. Right there is the mystery behind that gaudy 19.32. A guy with world class speed and world record 400 ability. The 200 is all about sustained speed. Who can sustain speed better than a WR holder?

Speed guys are all stuck in 19.6ville for a reason.

Munchen wrote:So far he's lit up the best curve runner in the world from the inside lanes.

glt wrote:

Based on his 100M time, I think Bolt will run low 19.3+

...and this turns out to be the case.