Gatlin 9.94 over Bolt in Rome

I don't doubt that Gatlin is on the juice, but is anyone really naive enough to believe that Bolt doesn't also juice?

Really 800 coach?? Bolt had a natural progression? Went from 19.9s as a 15 yo to 19.75 in 2007 and getting whipped by Tyson Gay at WC....to a chest-thumping 9.69 100m while letting up for 30m and then 19.30 into a headwind and after 100/200m rounds in 2008?? That's a natural progression from one year to the next??? If you believe that, I've got some nice oceanfront property in Kansas to sell to you....

No way jose wrote:

Really 800 coach?? Bolt had a natural progression? Went from 19.9s as a 15 yo to 19.75 in 2007 and getting whipped by Tyson Gay at WC....to a chest-thumping 9.69 100m while letting up for 30m and then 19.30 into a headwind and after 100/200m rounds in 2008?? That's a natural progression from one year to the next??? If you believe that, I've got some nice oceanfront property in Kansas to sell to you....

Not to mention those years when Bolt got run down from behind in EVERY 200m by his good friend Wallace Spearmon. And then, suddenly, in 2008 Bolt was untouchable.

It doesn't work like that legally.

Regarding the start, if you go through the video carefully, Bolt didn't quite get out as quick as Gatlin (judging from when the first foot strike touched), but it was good for Bolt.

And of course Bolt did that start because he hasn't been practicing. Uhh Huh.

What's so wrong about his progression? Progression like that at a young age is normal. I also think he was capable of running 19.6x in 07.

And what vid are you watching? Bolt clearly got out first, then stumbled, probably would have been .02-.03 faster imo if he hadn't but good race for Gatlin

Tax expert wrote:

Bolt made 16, before taxes and only because it was an Olympic year.

He's probably making 5 before taxes this year, most of it Samsung and Puma. Puma's got him locked up for life alot like Jordan with Nike.

According to Forbes, Bolt is the #40 highest paid athlete over the last 12 months at $24.2MM with a vast majority from sponsorship. Puma, Samsung, Gatorade.

I'm glad to see anyone beat Bolt. It will make worlds very interesting. I think Gay has a real shot at winning Gold if he can get his start down. Bolt is still the man to beat though.

800m coach--

There is nothing random about it. I not only suspect Bolt of using, I strongly suspect him of using, to the point where there remains almost no doubt at all.

Why? Look through the board, I've posted it all here.

Remember, suspicion and conclusions are all we have. Even in the event of a positive test result, it is only inferred that the athlete was using--it must be concluded from the presence of metabolites or markers that they used, but that doesn't mean that they actually did use. We work to minimize false positives, but they are possible.

So lighten up and enjoy the show, whether you believe he has used or not, because that's only a single piece of the puzzle.

funny thought wrote:

Maybe he was trying to get disqualified and accidentally hit it perfectly!

!!! 10/10 !!!

What's worse, a drug cheat that got caught, had to miss 4 years of running plus got his earning ability pummeled - or a possible drug that hasn't gotten caught, is racking up gold medals, world records, millions of dollars and is getting sympathy for losing a race?

We know of all the athletes in the past that used and didn't get caught.

We know the Lance Armstrong story and the Marion Jones story.

Calling Bolt a PED user is bad.

Holding him up as a clean example and giving him a moral victory in defeat is just as bad.

Two athletes raced each other under the same rules.

One won and one lost.

That's all we can really say about yesterday's race.

"We're all much better off accepting that doping is just part of the game and moving on with business."

Sadly, this is probably true, and because of it, I have become almost ambivalent toward "normal" use.

But I still have a problem with egregious use--use that produces super-human seasons, performances, or championships. Those are the ones we should focus on, HUGELY.

If they are clean, then so be it--but with the testing system currently in place, any assertions of them being clean is totally unconvincing in view of what they are doing.

"Bolt looked tight, horrible knee lift."

Absolutely. HORRIBLE knee lift. His shoulders were up, his chest out, he had no reach at all, and totally missed his top gear. He needs to do core work. Remember this?, at 6:20:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pFgIKGpUAM

He was absolutely supreme. I will never forget it.

"Two athletes raced each other under the same rules.

One won and one lost.

That's all we can really say about yesterday's race."

Not true at all.

We can analyze it in excruciating detail, and invest it with our own opinions, hopes, dreams, and biases. We can, and I do, give it an amount of attention that is totally disproportionate to its significance.

Vicaut!

SkyArt--

I'm not seeing a stumble. I'm seeing a well-balanced Bolt take his first 3 steps quicker than Rodgers, and even with his demonstrated inability to apply force to the track, emerge slightly ahead of Gatlin at 5m.

Bolt's turnover wasn't there late in the race. Granted, he doesn't necessarily have the turnover of the other guys, but it's even worse than Gatlin's after 70m. In the slow-mo, it looks to me like he's jogging. He doesn't look like he even has the ability to go hard--he is missing that top echelon of his body responding to the effort he's putting in.

Collins and Vicaut looked better, more solid, more responsive. Bolt looks detached. I don't doubt that he was trying, it's just that he looked so bad that it didn't look like he was trying.

And this from a guy who came 2nd, in sub-10. That is what is amazing about all this--not the fact that he lost to Gatlin or that he would have looked like crap had he run against Gay, whose 9.86 would have been something like 9.83 under these conditions--but the fact that he went sub-10 with so much room for improvement.

Locke had to run a great race in Eugene, with more than twice the wind of Rome, in an absolutely razor-sharp state of fitness, to run a time worse than Bolt's.

Here we talk of Dix running over 10 seconds, and say that "oh well, it's no problem because he still has time to get in shape and when it's important he will deliver the goods". We would be absolutely freaking out about Dix if he came in out-of-shape and ran sub-10.

Now, Bolt isn't out-of-shape like Dix, but he's out-of-shape in a different way. Dix still has "it", that drive, that intention, that range. If Dix did nothing other than lose 15 lbs, he would be in contention at the top.

Bolt is amazing. Look at this race--amazing start, perfect angles, but that was it. In fact, it's probably because he is out-of-shape that he had to actually try on that start, and expended a ton of energy laying down those first 5 steps, leaving less for the last part of the race.

He had a great beginning and a lackluster middle. Even without top gear, I swear I can see him gaining, although almost imperceptibly, on Gatlin at the end of the race.

Amazing.

Never thought I would see people posting about how slow a 9.95 is.

Charlie Chester Chaz McChesney wrote:

What an embarrassment that Gatlin is allowed to compete. I am no fan of Bolt's, and he may be a drug cheat as well, but this Gatlin stuff is a scar on the face of our sport.

What do you suggest we do with Gatlin?

Bolt to BBC: ""I got the perfect start. About five steps in I stumbled a bit," said Bolt."

Like I said, "the perfect start".

IN ISOLATION.

It was so perfect by itself, but it didn't fit perfectly into the race he ran. He didn't stumble--what he means is that he didn't have the strength to continue on the trajectory initiated by his perfect start, and so he had to change everything, come more upright, abandon the drive, and try to accelerate in an upright posture. Not going to happen, and because of that, he didn't have enough speed to realize any meaningful transition.

But like I said, if he can re-create that perfect start when he is stronger and it therefore fits perfectly into his normal race, look out.

This guy continues to amaze me. Combine that with his form on the Daegu 2011 anchor, and he has another 9.5x in him. Unbelievable.

The guy said it: "the perfect start".

It's hard to see but he does stumble, you see his head pop up a bit after he passes the line that's on the end of the bend

I still can't see it.

What I do see is an in-shape, smooth, and strong Kim Collins!

Nice, very nice.

So? We know Gatling can run 9.94. We do not know he can run 9.70-9.6x, which he would have to to beat Bolt in a WC. All this shows is Bolt had a slow early race.

Agreed,Why do people assume the muscular sprinters are more guilty than the skinny distance runners? If anything, the distance runners are MORE Guilty.

Needle Richard wrote:

All this hate for Gatlin from the people who adore Rupp, Farrah and Cain. Interesting...

Geezer and Lee - I watched that start by Bolt and was quite impressed! He reacted to the gun like a WR holder. All he has to do is finish the race. Perhaps he focused a lot on a good start leading up to Rome and will only look to fine tune his speed and endurance for Moscow.

What's interesting is that when a 100m sprinter is out of shape, it usually manifest itself in the first part of the race. I always felt the only way to beat Bolt was to not let him get away from you, I didn't think you could walk him down. Bolt is obviously not in top form and there is plenty of time to get there before the WCs, but I am not sure how much improvement he can make in 2 weeks before JAA Champs. With that said, he already ahead of the old guys like Carter and Frater, but the young guys like Cole and Ashmead are very game and getting better. And, then there are the wildcards (Powell and Blake). Bolt has shown the ability to turn things around quickly, but there isn't a lot of time.