Rome 2013 men's 100m

Places 3,4,5, and 6 were very close.

I thought after Bolt's first 3 steps that we were going to see a 9.6x!

That was a truly awesome start, I think maybe the best I have ever seen Bolt do.

If he can re-create that and put together the rest of his race, WR. He continues to amaze.

Wind was +0.8

That's actually a pretty decent wind.

Crap 100m from Bolt, by his standards.

Exactly what I would expect from him clean, at this time of the season. EXACTLY.

Look at Bolt's RT, the best of the field at .143, a full .02 better than Gatlin at .163, and a whopping .056 better than Vicaut at .199, and .055 better than Rodgers at .198

Collins fell asleep in the blocks at .211, giving away .07 to Bolt for no good reason. Had he had Bolt's RT he would have gone 10-flat.

Solid, disciplined race by Gatlin. The same race he always runs, even a bit slower probably due to the travel.

This was a great example of how a 9.94 race can be really exciting. We don't need the absurdity of 9.7x, 9.6x, or even 9.5x for a good race.

Whether you like him or not, good on Gatlin for talking it up.

Like I said before, I don't think this diminishes Bolt at all, but what it does do is elevate the whole discussion, and for that we have Gatlin to thank.

Bolt was no doubt healthy, which is a good sign. We will see what he can do in upcoming races, but really, I think this showed his maximum capability at this time.

Vid is already up, from France:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuH0PMbz1DU

Merci bien.

Collins looks good, it's too bad he missed the start, he would have come 3rd or 4th had he nailed it. He's as fast as Rodgers, Salaam, and Vicaut in this race, showing a pretty good closing ability. I think that Rodgers and Vicuat both have greater capability than him, however.

Although Vicaut ran his usual race, he ran a PR, which is terrific.

He had absolutely no lean. He did look better than before in his late acceleration. His acceleration phase as a whole was pretty smooth. I think he might have done better in this race had he not been in the wilderness of lane 1, outside of Tumi.

Bolt did not seem to be applying power to the track during the middle of the race, he just seemed to be turning his legs over.

I think what we saw today was Bolt's uninjured baseline, and that he will improve by the time it gets important.

If he doesn't improve, well, then...

Time to answer my phone.

I need to blow one final blast of sunshine at Vicaut.

This was, I think, his first 100m race of the year! And he ties his PR, and comes very close to breaking 10.

Talk about a season opener, wow. Compare this result to his euro compatriot Dasaolu who just went 10.11 (+1.1) in Geneva, which has a bit of altitude relative to Rome.

Although they were even indoors, Vicaut is .10 faster outdoors.

Speaking of euros, we have yet to see Gemili, who didn't even run in Geneva although it seems as though every other Brit did.

Bolt is getting ready to drop a bomb at worlds. Almost beat a drugged up Gatlin CLEAN. Amazing! Once he hits the cycle expect a .25/.3 tenth drop off of that time. World Record is in danger again

spdyhou wrote:

Bolt is getting ready to drop a bomb at worlds. Almost beat a drugged up Gatlin CLEAN. Amazing! Once he hits the cycle expect a .25/.3 tenth drop off of that time. World Record is in danger again

Unbelievably, I cannot easily disagree with that.

Bolts turnover was terrible looking. Looked like 400m turnover?

spdyhou wrote:

Bolt is getting ready to drop a bomb at worlds. Almost beat a drugged up Gatlin CLEAN. Amazing! Once he hits the cycle expect a .25/.3 tenth drop off of that time. World Record is in danger again

As much as I hate to say this,You May Be Right....

400 turnover?

Not quite. His turnover wasn't too bad, and with his usually-huge stride, it never looks terrific.

However, I think that his high-speed coordination is lacking, which is why he wasn't able to apply power successfully at speed. Clearly he is capable at low-speed, as his start/early accel demonstrated. VERY capable.

So, I think he can keep up the turnover rate at the expense of power, which is what I usually call windmilling. It was good enough for only a 10-flat adjusted time.

He should improve decently.

Jamaican nationals are soon, and I don't know if he has a bye or not for world's. I would absolutely love to see the likes of Ashmeade take him down in a 100m, maybe even Carter or KBC, or Frater. Anybody know if he will be running in nationals?

Collins 10.07 at 38. what a baller

You can tell that he lacks high-speed coordination and therefore power to the ground at speed, by his increased contact time.

Compare it to Gatlin's in the same race, or even to his own in other races from 2012.