Top 10 adjusted 100m rankings 2014

I thought it was some random guy who wanted to see if he could go sub-12 after 4 weeks of training. Nice to see that someone requested FAT, IIRC

Hey sub-12, you out there?

One more thing, I expected more from Locke this year, I thought he was ready to go just-sub-10 on a yearly basis. Also, I had hoped that Silmon would have developed for the US, but it hasn't happened.

In the new WTF column, we have Schippers. At the moment, I have no opinion on her performance.

Why was that thread deleted? It was just some kid seeing if he could run sub 12, though he never seemed to make am attempt. I'm working on something similar, trying to go sub 13 (impressive, I know) by next year. Mostly just bumping out of enthusiasm

Also, could you elaborate on the pivoting motion you see in Gatlin?

Geezer, welcome back.

What do you think of this sprinters?

Femi Ogunode (QAT): 10.07 but more interesting is his 60-100-200-400 record: (6.51-10.08-20.06-45.12) and plus, he made major finals in both 60 and 400m during his career.

Richard Kilty: He seems like a pure 60m sprinter, like Freddy Mayola. And his twitter insults...well, he looked very retarded.

Kiryu: It looks like his times in Japan are bogus.

Hua-Wilfried Koffi: Who's he and why he's running 10.05?

Harry Aikines: 10.07 SB, no big improvement at all? is he still with that massive muscle?

Darryl Haraway: 10.20 at 17 years old.

Jevaughn Matherson: 10.37 and 20.97 at 15 years and 1 month!!! Is he the next Usain Bolt?? I think he's more gifted like Yohan Blake.

Hmm and I others seem to think you used to say Gay could be clean.

Ogunode is the real deal, the complete sprinter. His 200 has really come on lately. He is one of those Nigerians I'm telling you about. Sure he competes for Qatar, but he's full-on Nigerian. He's still pretty young at 23, and so has some promising years ahead of him. His start and drive phase suck in terms of form, but he is nevertheless fast at 6.51, meaning there is room for improvement. He's like Gay in the sense that he just runs out of the blocks, and is ragged because of it. At speed he needs to improve arm swing and knees, he never seems to "lift" like the best do, he just seems to run down the track. There is a lot to like about Ogunode--here is a guy who has gone 10.08 into a slight headwind this year, and got 3rd indoors, but who has inferior blocks and a ragged drive. His native ability is huge.

Kilty--nobody ever said that sprinters were the brightest bulbs on the tree. What's that old saying, it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt? He was sure jacked for the 60. He's a pure accelerator, for sure--look at his rate of energy output in the first 25m indoors compared to a guy like, say, Carter--who absolutely smokes him in the 100. He will win 60's with that form, but will never win 100's using that form for his first 60. Never. He has a place in a long history of other guys who were in the same boat. If you're looking for a comparison to him, how about the shorter, white US guy who killed the 60 but never did any damage in the 100--Casey Combest. 6.57 in HS, but only around 10.5 in the 100, and worse in the 200. Pure accelerators.

Kiryu--I railed about the wind reading being wrong in his 10.01, and I was vindicated on that one. He's at 10.05 (+1.6) on the year, but both his 10.05 and his 10.10 were at meets in Japan. Not surprising for a Japanese sprinter, but I have my doubts about Japanese wind gauge operation. He does that, then goes only 10.34 for bronze at WJC? Then 10.46 in Tokyo, where the timing actually had to work because it was an international field? Getting BLOWN AWAY by an out-of-shape Lemaitre? Are you kidding me? Kiryu has ability, that is for sure. I do think he is honestly capable of going around 10.15 when at his best so far, but I don't see him much below that, maybe 10.05-10.10 if he gets lucky--which is smoking fast, but I don't think he's even finals material at this point. Maybe he just needs to get out of his shell and become more comfortable internationally.

Koffi: what can I say. He's a good guy, but not 10.05 good. The times from that Marrakech meet are very suspect, everybody there set SB's by a large amount, with almost no wind: Koffi 10.05, Jelks 10.07, Edwards 10.16, Dix 10.27, Ouhadi 10.29 All of those guys appear on the IAAF list exactly once. It was also a big PR for Koffi, who was at 10.21 previously. Those results have to be thrown out along with such notorieties as Clermont, Eugene, Rieti, etc. Marrakech 2014, bogus. Koffi is IMO not a threat to anybody at or near the top of the sprint world, and will not make any waves.

HAA, it's his decision whether or not to carry around all the bulk. He's doing well, and is of course Leonard Scott 2.0 He's very useful on the relay squad, and has been performing honorably and well on the circuit, absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. 10.08, 10.13, those are solid times. Would he be faster if he lost bulk? Who knows. Different people lose bulk in different ways--what if because of his physiology, he lost bulk in his legs and core first? It would be disastrous. Different people use their bodies in different ways, and for some to be strong in the lower body requires them to be strong in the upper body...or, it just happens, there isn't much he can do about it. Training has an effect on this, but there are also genetic variations, some people are "made better" for one sport or another. Look at male gymnasts, you will never find a world-class one who is prone to put on muscle in the lower body. Like I said there IS a training effect, and it's sizeable--but in his case, who knows. I assume that because he is serious about sprinting he has thought about this, and maybe even tried different things to see what happens, and that he has decided to go with the way he is. I enjoy watching him sprint, it's fun to see different types of guys lined up all the way from HAA to Lemaitre and Ndure.

out of time now, will try to get to the juniors later...

yes, will get to this, later

Welcome back, Sprintgeezer! Please never leave again. I will take a closer look at this thread later (helping move now).

I don't know a huge amount about sprinting, but want to learn! I always like your threads and Flo'da Boy's.

Flo'da--

Check out around 2:50 of this vid from Gatlin's 200 in Monaco:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGjy6M-7x8

It's the finish of the 200, with Gatlin reaching for the line. Look at his shoulders, they do not remain square to the track, but instead, he is twisting his upper body. This is generally referred to as "rocking", and is usually seen as a bad thing, something that often goes hand-in-hand with overstriding.

Gatlin, however, is different, he uses it just enough to be able to lengthen his stride. When you run/sprint, because your limbs are outside the centerline of your body, when they move, you create a torque. That torque needs to be balanced by something--for instance, an arm swing. However, the torque can also be balanced by a twisting about the body centerline. You see different guys do this in different degrees. Gay, as I mentioned before, does it progressively throughout a 100, IMO perfectly, just staying below the point of overstriding while maximizing stride length. Guys like Lemaitre and Ndure do it more and regularly because their arms aren't as big and can't produce as much of a moment, so do properly balance the legs, they need to twist to produce sufficiently balancing torque.

For an excellent example of the timing I'm talking about with Gay, watch how he unfurls pivoting at the end of his excellent 9.69, as he flies through the end of the race--watch his shoulders pivot increasingly more until he finally crosses the line, starting at about 1:55 in this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhsqVfOB9ig

As a good comparison between 2 different sprinters, check out this slow-mo front view of Vicaut and Lemaitre side-by-side, at about 4:23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpX4lPRyP2M

They are both pivoting, but clearly Lemaitre is doing it much more than is Vicaut. Lemaitre has neither Vicaut's upper body size nor strength. Because he doesn't have the strength, he can't move his arms as fast, meaning less acceleration, meaning less force, meaning less torque. Even if he could move them at the same speed, the torque would be less because the mass would be less. So, he needs to pivot more, and he does.

This pivoting enables you to swing your leg farther. Because the torques have to be balanced as they are produced, you need to apply the balancing torque at the right time, in order to enable high knees during the appropriate times of the sprint. Why are high knees good/necessary? Because true sprinting is more akin to a bounding motion, than to what people understand as a running motion. It's all about foot rearward velocity at the point of footstrike, and that is produced by getting the leg into the right position at the right time, leaving enough time to drive it rearward...and that right position is high knee lift, because it gives you enough time to develop the force needed for max rearward foot speed.

Check out around 4:13 of this vid of Powell's excellent 9.72

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEQrg00Y0dQ

Even Powell does it. Everybody does it, to some extent.

Gatlin, however, is the master of the rearward leg sweep. Ever wonder why he has always been known as the "long strider"? It's because he has a longer arm sweep, and he combines that with just enough pivoting. He is able to produce more balancing torque than other sprinters, and is therefore able to both produce greater rearward foot speed, and apply more force to the track. Look at the end of that 200 and compare his stride frequency to that of Ashmeade--much lower. It doesn't even look like Gatlin is going that fast, but he is.

Of course, one can over-do it. If you do it too long, you will have too great a hang time, and your body will actually get pulled down too far by gravity, such that you now need to apply too much of your force in the upward direction, and less in the needed forward direction. This is IMO what produces overstriding--your body instinctively knows when it need to contact the foot with the ground in order to keep you upright, after you have sank a certain distance. Overstriding occurs when your stride takes so long that the foot has to contact the ground too soon--that is, before the foot is right below the body. When you do that, your foot has not reached maximum rearward velocity, and you are retarding your motion, and decreasing your speed.

What pivoting about your waist really allows is for your pelvis to pivot--your hips. You hear sprint coaches all the time telling sprinters to drive with the hips on acceleration, but WTF does that mean? IMO it means that the hips, or pelvis, should be the prime motion of consideration. Focus on the hips/pelvis, and on what they are doing. Get the right rotation, to get the legs/abs/back into the optimum power position. Focus on what the hips are doing, and the rest will follow...BUT, in order to get the hips to do the right thing, you need to produce the right action in them, and that's where arms/torso pivoting come in.

Powell, again. One of my favorite starters. Watch the slow-mo front view starting at around 3:18 of this vid of his excellent 9.78 in Rieti:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_tp1V3ikbQ

He has GREAT, rangey arm action, enabled by his torso pivoting. How does torso pivoting enable better arm action? The same way that pelvic pivoting enables better leg action--because both the shoulder joint and hip joint only permit a very limited amount of rearward action by the arm and leg respectively. The joint, be it the shoulder or the hip, need to be pivoted, or tilted (in addition to the limb being rotated), in order to get greater range.

This can be easily illustrated: for the hip, stand straight up, with your feet pointing straight in front of you. Put your hands on your hips so that you know what they are doing. Try to sweep your leg rearward while keeping the foot pointed straight ahead, and see how far it goes. Not far at all. Now, simultaneously pivot at the hip and turn the leg outward a bit, and you will see that it goes much farther.

For the shoulder, just stand there with your hand flat down at your side, and your elbow in at your side, and try to sweep your arm back while not moving your shoulders. It hardly goes back at all. Now you can either bend forward at the waist(as on acceleration), or twist the torso a bit, and you will see that rearward range of the arm is much increased.

To see where this can lead, look at Gay's rear arm position in these still photos:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2180394/London-2012-Olympics-Tyson-Gay-quiet-American-ready-blow-Jamaican-dream-apart.html

Back to Gatlin, check out the front-view slow-mo at 1:44 in this vid of his amazing 9.80(+0.1):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyfEIerlk0Y

Perfect. He is pivoting perfectly in the upper body, too bad you can't see his lower body in the vid. He stays nice and low to the track to avoid floating. Rodgers has started to emulate this action. Watch the slow-mo head-on view of the 2 of them in Linz this year, at about 1:29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayB5jHuuTac

Rodgers is running with more turnout in his legs, like Boldon used to do. His hips are lower to the ground, and he is pivoting and extending more than he used to--and is going faster as a result.

For me, focusing on this during all phases enables me to focus on generating speed down the track, on covering ground, on eating up ground quickly, which is what it is all about. Not only on acceleration, but especially on SE, when your force production ability is likely to have decreased, and you therefore need more time to accelerate your foot to a high rearward vmax. The bonus is that you don't tie up. I am able to do 200's now in practice, not going 100%, as fast as I could race them 2 years ago, and not feel spent. Incredible! It doesn't feel fast, it feels like Gatlin looked in the 2nd half of his 19.68--in fact, it feels easy. For me, it really works.

Similarly, thinking about it in a 100, during all phases--from acceleration to transition to vmax to SE, unfurling while nearing the line--makes 100's a lot easier. All the force I now apply seems to be going to the right place, and I eat up ground faster. I have combined this focus with increased back-side weight work, adductor work, and hip/core work, and wow.

Back-side weight work: squats from a seated position, tons of ham curls, step-ups, leg press intentionally not using quads at first, with feet out in front

adductor work: huge leg press

hip/core work: hard torso pivots with 135 on the bar (I do not recommend this to anybody), straight leg raises to vertical, bent-knee situps, crunches, etc.

in addition to cleans, but less weight, better form--185 instead of 225, and more reps.

Hope that covers it Flo'da, YMMV. For me, it has worked wonders. Faster than I've been in 5 years, AND uninjured. I'm going to see how long I can keep the development going before life events take over again. I'm trying to avoid being folded-up in airplanes and cars, that kills me and negates much hard work.

Well, the IAAF have ratified Powell's 9.87 (+1.6) from Texas, now we get to see if it was real or not. I don't know if he's had enough time yet in Europe to get adjusted.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Gay is going to come out absolutely smoking, I don't know why, just a little voice. There's something in the air, I can feel it. I can't explain.

If he does, and if Powell's 9.87 was for real, I will psychologically need to see them all go head-to-head in Rieti. Screw appearance fees, just do it for the competition. Can you imagine? For Gatlin it's his best year ever, for Powell it's like home turf, for Gay it's a big chance in a year when he needs a big chance.

Please let this happen. Hopefully neither Powell nor Gay go down in Zurich.

brrrrr, cool for sprinters in Zurich at around 70F

not super cold, but not perfect, either.

apparently there's hardly any breeze, so the times might not be scorching. I still have that nagging feeling that Gay will rock a great race.

Lemaitre draws an excellent lane 5, just inside Ashmeade, who is just inside Edward.

He had better smoke this one, although he doesn't inspire confidence.

Lemaitre gets, essentially, crushed.

Good race between Edward and Ashmeade for the top spot.

Very, very disappointing from Lemaitre.

Well, I got it kind of right, excluding Gay.

1st thing: hell yeah KBC! This is what I wanted to see, him up against good competition, and beating them soundly. 9.96 (-0.3) gives him 9.95 adjusted, which moves him into a tie for 4th with Gay.

KBC's best adjusted time so far this season by .02, and I think, maybe his best race. Powell got out great on one side, and Gay fell apart on the other, not the best situation in which to judge what is going on. He kept his cool, held his form, didn't fatigue in the second half, and destroyed them, erasing the lead that Powell worked so hard to build.

Speaking of which, 9.87, yeah, right. Not according to this race. His 9.87 (+1.6) goes into the bogus column for the year.

KBC--strong, long, and smooth. He's the whole package. You wouldn't expect a guy with his body type (long, lean, and clean) to be able to start great, and he doesn't. Nice to see a year in which somebody can run their natural race, weakness and all, and win a big meet. He is one of my favorites for sure.

2nd thing: Gay. LMAO, it looked like he tweaked something. Serves him right. Check out how much smaller his upper body looked, than it has looked recently, like at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. Uh, right. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have torn himself up as severely as Blake . . . yet. The good thing is there is still time. Hopefully both he and Powell will continue to run pedestrian times, and if they try to speed up to the speed they remember, they will blow up trying. I have zero sympathy for Gay, I think he's a jack-off. And here I though we would see something big from him, because in general there is little reason to believe that a former doper is now off the juice. But Gay might actually be trying to sprint cleanly now. We will see his times drop off from even this point--either that, or he will get chronically injured and won't be able to deliver more than 1 or 2 races a year.

Carter was disappointing in this race. I haven't seen a replay, but it seems like he peaked in the heat of the summer, and now he's on the downslope. Nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong with a 10.14 into a slight headwind. You can't be nails every time.

Super-close between 2nd-4th, 10.05-10.07. 10.07 is actually a good showing from Powell IMO, essentially equaling Rodgers who has had a very good season but who, like Carter, seems to be sliding. Also a fair and clean time by Dasaolu.

Consider this: with a max 2.0 tailwind, KBC would have been 9.85, right around where I think the max clean should be, maybe a bit of room for improvement still. Here we see him, with such a performance, winning the mini-Olympic meet in Zurich, lined up against all the best guys this year except for Gatlin and Bolt. That's how it should be.

This was a good-looking race, with some interesting dynamics in it. Actually now that I think about it, Powell looked thinner, too. Go figure. 10.07 from him in a quirky year for him into a slight headwind is very nice. Slightly better conditions and not letting up (I don't know if, but I suspect that he did let up at the end of this race), and he will be sub-10 again.

OK, count out Gay from Rieti, he's done for the year. Gatlin, Powell, Rodgers, Dasaolu, and KBC. Gatlin will win even though he was fast early on in the year, but it would be fun to see him go up against Powell again, just like old times in the early 2000's. Heck, throw Bolt, Ashmeade, and Gemili in to round out the field.

Powell's 9.87 adjusts to 9.95, while this 10.07 adjusts to 10.06

Not a huge difference, but big enough to make the 9.87 a bit suspect.

Fun Fact: Asafa Powell is related to General Colin Powell (or Sec of State Colin Powell, whichever his official desig is)

Colin Powell's father, Luther, was a Jamaican immigrant. His brother is Asafa Powell's grandfather.

The number of athletes running under 10", this year is higher than in 2010, just saying...If you think that things have changed, wait for the next year in Beijing. Maybe some of the guys need to be "off"

Which is higher than in 2009 (a year which saw ridiculous times), and on par with 2008 (OG year).

The problem is that you take too much liberty when calling some "times" bogus, without checking some facts.

I'll explain it by taking this example:

Most of the guys who ran there don't take part in prestigious Euro meetings, or meetings, period. (prestigious or not)

The number of athletes allowed in meets is not infinite, that's why the rare times these guys race, they set PBs.

If you take a look at women times back there, you'll notice that the winner took the 100m in a relatively pedestrian time compared to what she did 2 weeks sooner in the Glasgow's CG games. But her, has no problem showcasing her strenghts in various meet, since she can compete easily.

I know that the secondary guys in Marrakech probably peaked for that meet, so some SB's are expected--but not that many, and not as dramatic, IMO. And when you say they don't run any meetings, well, that's hooey. Just because you don't have access to the results doesn't mean that they don't run.

About the 2010 100m rankings, you are wrong. There were 13 guys sub-10, even if you exclude Carter's bogus Rieti 9.78. EVEN IF you choose to include Brown's from this year, that's 2 less this year. Magakwe's was at altitude, no problem throwing that out. I also have no problem throwing Collins' out, considering the overall race results. Even adding in KBC from this race in Zurich, there is 1 less this year.

There is 1 less sub-10 guy so far this year than in the previous "nothing" year, 2010. 35 legit sub-10 performances in 2010, only 20 so far in 2014.

Yes, I get to pick and choose what to throw out, because it's my thread. I certainly don't have change my criteria because your opinion differs. If you believe that Thompson went 9.82, you are the only one. If you think that elevation didn't help Magakwe, your head is in the sand. If you don't consider the overall timing in Collins' race anomalous, you're a fool. If you consider these "liberties" inappropriate, I suggest that your perception of what is "appropriate" is unhelpful. You will notice that none of the Marrakech results figured into my sub-10 discussion, because none of them were sub-10, so none were "thrown out" in said discussion.

You seem like the kind of automaton who automatically defers to authority. If you want to accept all results from Rieti, Eugene, Clermont, Port-of-Spain, and Marrakech, so be it. I don't, and for good reason. See my earlier thread on the Eugene advantage and you will get a better idea why:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4160999&page=2

I don't automatically accept the results of Marrakech 2014 M100m.

Ultimately, I never said that this year topped all others for pedestrian times, as you are trying to make it seem. You will notice that it is in the basement of recent years in terms of times, both in the 100 and in the 200. In comparing the 100 and 200 this year to the single other years of comparable times, you have proved my point, apparently without realizing it. To prove your own point you would have had to have shown that this year wasn't in the basement, which you haven't done--all you have done is shown that it ranks right down there with the other weakest years.

Thanks, Geezer, brilliant analysis as always. The pivoting motion really is obvious looking at the late stage of Gatlins 200 and even the 100, though not so exaggerated. I'm gonna try and hit the track later (hopefully for some huh jump practice) but I may do some reps and give this a shot. I suppose it could help make up for my lack of power.

I have had zero access to anything resembling a heavy weight for the past couple of months so I have been trying to make due with plyometrics.

On another note, as I was watching these videos and looking at results, I was shocked at how far back Ryan Bailey has been this year. Anyone know his deal?

Also there seems to have a been a sort of changing of the guard in the hurdles. The Europeans seem to be out classing us this year (thigh the western hemisphere is hardly lost thanks to Parchment.) Mayne that's just the lack of global champs and the focus on Europe though.

I'm still really waiting for Gemili to crack a good one. He has been impressive and consistent this year (and even brilliant in the Euro 200m) but he just has put everything together for the 100m. He says he is still lacking in his start so it may simply be a matter of improving there