Bolt - "I think (Gatlin) has a few guys to get past before he worries about me.''

"You are always saying that Bolt is going to get injured, but aside from getting in a car crash and shutting down 2010 "early" (after Stockholm in MID-AUGUST) he has been one of the least-injured of the top guys in the 100.

Gay, Powell - now THOSE are guys who get hurt. Only Blake has zero damage."

I know, you are correct. In fact, that very lack of injury is some of the most damning evidence against Bolt and Blake IMHO, especially Bolt.

Which is why I especially worry for Bolt this year, as he may actually be clean. He did take time off, when was it, 2010 or 2011, because of physical issues. That timing coincided with the reported improvements in Jamaican anti-doping efforts.

I could totally see him getting injured this season...maybe not enough to knock him out completely, but enough to slow him down. You will see, it will be either his back, or his feet--my bet is on his back.

Bolt had an Achilles injury in early 2010 then quit the season with a lower back injury right after losing to Gay. Personally, I think he might have chosen to focus on training as he was accused of being a little “loose” and partying hard back then. One must remember their respective ages when counting injuries rather than being so quick to point to doping. It matters in a sport as physically demanding as theirs.

Gay - 29

Powell - 29

Bolt - 25

Blake - 22

I honestly think Gatlin is capable of consistent 9.7 mid to highs. He has been running 9.8 with basically NO wind and this early in the season. He's ready to take the Olympic Trials 100m from Tyson Gay in around 9.7x

Also, I'll be looking for him to medal in London. He's just too experienced, my god, he won NCAA's as a freshman in the 100 and 200 so he's ready to party with the big boys when it matters.

I actually DON'T expect Tyson Gay to make the team in the 100m if he doesn't run any races till then. His start will be absolute trash and he'll probably be trying to catch a slow starting Walter Dix for the 3rd spot which will be very hard.

This will be a close year. A bunch of 9.7's with maybe a wind aided 9.6 from someone but that's it. The Bolt show is over.

Interesting, interesting...I'll be watching...

If Bolt is healthy, does not false start and executes properly, he will when the Olympic 100m. Bolt at his best, is unbeatable, Bolt at a little less than his best is still a gold medal threat. Blake, Gay and everyone is in another 'lesser' category. - End of story!

Bolt will win gold

Blake and 'a health Gay will get silver and bronze.

Everyone else is filling a lane.

Bolt just ran 9.76 for a MR with a -0.1 wind reading, Powell 9.91

If Gatlin wants Bolt, go over to Europe and race him, Bolt isn't hiding and people like Powell aren't afraid to toe the line with him. Where you at Gatlin?

9.76 wrote:

Bolt just ran 9.76 for a MR with a -0.1 wind reading, Powell 9.91

Like I said, everyone else is racing for second. Btw, where are you getting your meet results?

TrackCoach wrote:

9.76 wrote:

Bolt just ran 9.76 for a MR with a -0.1 wind reading, Powell 9.91

Like I said, everyone else is racing for second. Btw, where are you getting your meet results?

Everyone else is screwed, even if Bolt doesn't run any faster than this before the Olympics. He always pulls out ridiculous fitness at the right moment. Showed not a whole lot last year, wasn't looking very good, and then BOOM, 19.4 for the win. Watch out for a world record at the games. The very fact that it's the Olympics and not just worlds will actually make a difference. Bolt is such a gamer.

Not Hiding wrote:

Where you at Gatlin?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember reading somewhere that a lot of big time meet organizers don't like to have Gatlin (and other former drug cheats) at their meets. So Gatlin is kinda stuck w/ B meets and national meets b/c of what he did a couple of years ago. I'm sure if he is given the opportunity to race Bolt he will.

Olympic final 7-8 men break 10 seconds in the 100 meters yet most are just lane fillers. I love this forum. If you aren't first you are last! Bolt should be at least a little worried about Blake, Gay, and Gatlin. Powell will not medal, he will fold like a lawn chair in the final. A final with Bolt, Blake, Gay, Gatlin, Powell, Dix, Lemaitre, and any of the other 4 Jamaicans or Thompson is not Bolt and a bunch of lane fillers, it will be perhaps the single most talented field in 100 meter history.

Although there has been no official word about injury, I'm right again, sorry to say it.

Gay said that at the Jamaican trials, Bolt looked like he was laboring, and that he might be banged up. Absolutely correct, "banged up" meaning that all those small niggles from training, that are now not going away overnight because he is no longer doping, are having a cumulative effect that we can now see when he is running against the other top runners.

Bolt has returned to the life of a clean top sprinter, which is one of injury management. Like I've always said, the top guy who can stay healthy the longest is the one who will win the big meet, because injury can really interfere with training. Injuries come from going too hard too soon, or from some sort of imbalance, or from going hard while fatigued. The top guys need great coaching, as they often want to go hard, no matter how early it is in the cycle, or how fatigued they are.

While on the juice, Bolt was in consistently better shape, and was able to meet the appearance obligations set by sponsors, etc.. It is a large duty to fulfill, and the travel, interrupted training, and competition even when you don't feel good will break you down.

This year he has broken down. Does he have enough time to recover and recharge before the Games? Possibly, depending on the exact nature of his problem(s). I think that withdrawing from Monaco was a good idea. In fact, I think that there is a good chance that the rounds in London will take it out of him, or will re-aggravate a sensitivity that he now has, if he has to go at all hard. He should do JUST ENOUGH in each round to get to the next round, in both the 100 and the 200.

There is no ubermensch. The only reason Bolt could run as fast as he did in '08 and '09 was because the juice allowed him to be injury-free for a sufficiently long time to let the training take hold--before '08, he always had physical problems, which somehow went into remission for 2 years, although he was training harder than ever, and competing in more events than ever. Right.

Hey Bolt, welcome to the real world.

Hopefully he stays clean for this month, and doesn't give in to the temptation to juice himself healthy. I would MUCH rather see a semi-injured Bolt come second to a juiced Blake (and hopefully see Blake subsequently DQ'd), than I would see another 9.6x or 9.5x

In fact, I would MUCH rather see a clean Bolt run, no matter in what position he finishes.

Geezer, what are you babbling about? So you think Bolt WAS dirty, and now is clean, but his training partner is dirty now? Why would Bolt decide to be clean now but be cool with his rival/training partner being dirty? Or are you saying Bolt is oblivious to Blake being juiced? Can you try to explain how you think this works? Wouldn't the same people who assisted Bolt be the ones assisting Blake?

Whaaat? wrote:

You speak so matter-of-factly about Blake being faster than Bolt. I've never seen a race where it didn't seem as if Bolt had a lot more left in the tank, even when he said he was running all out. If anything, Blake will be the catalyst which pushes Bolt to lower his WRs. Oh and Bolt has been training his ass off in case you haven't been following. He's just saving up the fireworks for later.

Do you now accept that Blake is faster than Bolt? Although Bolt still has the year's leading adjusted 100m time, the only real test of relative speed is a head-to-head matchup, like at the Trials.

I believe that Blake has this "other gear", such that he would have beaten Bolt in the trials, no matter what, unless Bolt somehow ran a 9.6x

Blake was always faster than Bolt on the year. Bolt's race in Rome was spectacular, but he went out with the specific purpose of putting up a serious time after the Ostrava 10.0x. I don't think that Blake has yet gone out with that same intention. Furthermore, I think that he is currently faster than his trials result indicates.

He has lost the weight he needed to lose, and is no longer musclebound, and is not sprinting like Ben Johnson anymore. He is back to his fluid, beautiful-turnover self. I could see him going 9.75 adjusted this year, which would be a .05 improvement from trials, and as fast as Bolt in Rome.

In any head-to-head matchup, based on what has happened this season so far, Blake will beat Bolt. IF Bolt is able to rehab by the Games, he will only be as fast as Blake, and we will have a real race on our hands!

As kind of an aside, everyone keeps talking about Bolt staying out late at the nightclubs. I know that he is a notorious partier but the incident involving him crashing his car early in the morning had me wondering...He had just gotten back from the Netherlands I believe for a track meet. I would think that since he would be on a completely different time zone, wouldn't he still be up having been used to being in the Netherlands? Maybe he just went out to go do something and was just trying to adjust his sleep schedule back to Jamaica time.