Why did Asada Powell never run a 9.6

Compare Blake to the majority of sprinters and his blocks are excellent. I agree that the mechanic is pedestrian—he runs out, he does not explode out—but he was not only physically strong, he was REALLY strong...yes, IMO strong enough to overcome his technical lameness in the blocks. He remained bunched, but for him that was a power position that he continued through early accel.

Yes it is arguable that Dolt was his superior—if only just—in each phase, even blocks with that first high heel so he didn’t trip—except for maintenance, at which Flake could be great. Also, Dolt’s blocks weren’t all that—he looked like he got good clearance, but that was an artifact of his body length, not an actual effect of his drive. More than once in key races, Dolt stumbled out of the blocks. Remember when he actually had to TRY in that one qf to get by Su. ADG, and someone else?

Flake was so muscularly overdone that he exceeded his connective tissues. When he was at his brief peak—that was destined to end soon—he was amazing.

paris2024hawk wrote:

Justin Gatlin was also superior to Blake in max velocity he split an .81 in 06, he was faster than gay, but Gay was better at holding his speed .Gatlin falls apart at the end of a race.Maybe Blake was faster but their is no split data from Blake's prime.

Personally I don't think Ben Johnson and Greene would be much faster today maybe .05 sec. Ultra fast mondo tracks are not new. Tracks don't see to matter as much in the sprints all you need is a hard responsive track . We saw Norman run a super fast time on a high school track.

You can’t go by those 10m splits. Yeah Gatlin did show some mad top-end a few times, and may well have gone faster than Flake, for sure.

Tracks matter, especially from back in the 80’s. Yeah Seoul was hard, but Rome wasn’t. And it’s more than that—it’s got to have the right “feel”. As a sprinter, you can tell the instant you set foot on a track if it is fast. These new corduroy mondo surfaces feel really fast, not just brutally hard. There’s a difference.

And the sprinter makes a difference. BJ, Greene, Flake are all power sprinters, who benefit greatly, maybe 0.10. Guys like Gay, ADG, Lewis, not so much. Those are all lighter guys who can wind it up, really relax and freewheel, maintaining turnover, not so much force to the track to compensate. When going, they are more running through the air, than on the track—which, btw, is why they respond so well to tailwinds. Remember Gay 9.68, ADG 9.69, Lewis 9.78. Contrast to Greene and Flake’s best, no wind.

Guys like Powell, Dolt, and Gatlin are hybrids. They never look like they need to muscle their race (maybe Gatlin sometimes). Yes they get some benefit from better tracks—IMO it is why Gatlin went from 9.77 to 9.74 They IMO do not respond spectacularly to high tailwinds.

Pretty sure my posting of top 5 BASICS for Powell, Gay, and even Bolt illustrates my understanding of wind in relation to 100m dash times.

You don't understand what the word "literal" actually means or implies.

If I write a "book" to respond to you, you then say "BoRIng noVel POstS".

If I leave it like this you say "NeCKbeard WhIner I wIN."

Next.

next what, moran?

I don't talk like that, it's in your goofy brain

you posting top 5's doesn't show

you understand anything, goofy

gay could run slower 1 or 100 times and it's still slower, not faster

what donbolt, mj, bailey, blake, greene etc have to do with asafa powell's proven 9.6 ability?

I answered the op clearly and to the point. you're an imbecile that came to make entire pages of trash cause you're a butthurt attention whore. you got slapped down and predictably chimped out. gtfo

powell never had 'best speed endurance of all time' lol

Asada Bowel? LMAO haha

Powell did indeed have great SE. The only times where he was run down on the circuit is when Gay and Bolt were at their top- MaxV wise. Those two would have run anyone down that was ahead of them when they achieved 12 m/s. Only Powell was fast enough to be out front, however. When they didn't get to 12 m/s on the circuit. He beat them. 

Powell did lose to Gatlin at the 05 Pre Meet bc he lacks that comp drive and gave that sh!t away in the last few strides. It wasn't bc Gatlin had superior speed. And yet Gatlin avoided Powell in 06 even after his BS time of 9.77 in Doha. That's really the reason why they raced in two seperate heats at the 06 Pre.  Powell never ducked anyone on the circuit. Gatlin ran a faster time there and regretted it afterwards. 

He was only run down once in Majors, IIRC. 2007. I'm aware of the Injury and training issues that he had. Please show us in what other Majors he was out ahead and ran down.  Again, aware of all the injuries (and unwise moves he made).

9.72 was in fact, flawless. Ppl who have great eyes and knowledge for this sport can see that.  Ppl in other sports can say all they want about how he could have run faster but I just laugh at those idiots. The other day, one world class coach put a race of Powell running his 9.72 as a simulation stick figure. All these so-called experts-PhD,d Biomechanic specialists, NCAA, etc. etc. wrote that this athlete should change this, not do that, blah blah, BS. Even worse, Only two ppl could name the person running. I named him in a few seconds. A few hours later, a world class coach that I highly respect finally came to the same. Goes to show you...most don't know how to leave well enough alone and have never been around sub 10 guys. Anyways, with the exception of a few foot contacts mid-race (maybe)...it was nearly perfect. He would have raced to a 9.92 that day if all these ppl had the chance to coach him lmao. 

Mo Greene gave all he could that one day in Edmonton. He tried to push it and failed. Respect. MJ on the other hand, was on his farewell tour. 

**************************

1999 WRs for both. 2000 Both had the Blueprints for their own training to advance their times even further...Training went Fantastic for both. MJ seems to be holding back a little in the 400. MG in that QF? showed that he was more than ready to break the WR again in the 100. Both end up being injured at the Trials. Recover in time to Win Golds. 

Lots of arrogant smack talk from both of them before it went down. Anyways, MJ said- "NOTHING Strikes fear in Me"  in an interview before his 200 meter showdown with Greene and Capel.I can't help but think about how Years earlier at the Nationals D. Hall said "I'm going to go out fast..in 20.8 at the 200 mark and that he means business. MJ responded with "20.8...That's a jog for me."

Well then, how come you never went faster than your target of 21 at the 200m mark?? Always the 21.2 or well within your capabilities. What was he so afraid of to just go for it. At least MG blew up trying. 

Mr. P, It IS tough to post from a smartphone. Sheesh!!! Keeps me from posting more.

Asafa Powell ran under 9.79 seconds (the miracle mark of Ben Johnson in 1988) eight times in his career. He also ran an additional 13 times under 9.85 seconds. All told, he broke 10 ninety-seven times! His best time of 9.72 was run with just a 0.2 m/s wind. His 9.74 at Rieti was with 1.8 m/s. He was a great, great sprinter at his best but could not do it on the big stage. Three of those sub 9.79s were run at Rieti, two at Lausanne, then Athens almost a year after the Olympics (June 2005), Gateshead, Zurich. Pretty much all of his really good times were either on the circuit or in Jamaica.

His best finishes individually in the Olympic games were 5th, 5th, and 7th--9.94,9.95,11.99.

At World's, he won two bronze medals individually, with one sub 9.85, namely, 9.84. The other was 9.96. He also had an indoor silver in the 60m. But he had 10 Diamond League and 15 Golden League victories, so he was a little like Silas Kiplagat, dominating on the circuit, pretty weak when it counted.

Would you please break it down by which months he got those times in? Sep. was always hot with him. Especially, after one huge stimulus (100m x 4 and 2 relay legs).

It's true that his top two times were in September plus his sixth and seventh best (three of those races were at Rieti). His third and fourth best, as well as his eighth best were in June, the fifth best in July. He was pretty much as good from June through September, seems to have peaked more in June and September than any other months. His fastest in May was 9.84 but he ran that three times, a total of ten years apart, in 2005, 2012, and 2015!

1 9.72 September

2 9.74 September

3 June

4 June

5 August

6 September

7 September

8 June

9 July

10 July

11 September

12 September

13 June

14 September

Interestingly, too, Powell never lost in a race where he ran faster than 9.83. At 9.83, he was second once and he was third at Berlin in 9.84. He lost only two other times when he ran sub 9.90. This supports my theory that he tightened up with top competition when it counted and hence did not run up to his capabilities.

Any of those times right after JAM Trials?

jeremiahw wrote:

Could he have been a good kick returner in the NFL?

He could have been a great striker for Accrington Stanley

Wow mr. nice guy, are you the nth coming of Eldrick/Ventolin/Calculo?

Remember when Powell surged past everyone in the 2011 JAM Trials Final and sprinted extremely well til the line? That was some race. All the injuries are behind him. He won’t disappoint again... the JAM ppl claimed.

He races to a 9.7x something shortly after that. He’s a contender for a medal. BAM! Groin injury. WTF!

Then Blake starts his own trend of running his best in September I.e. Zurich . where Powell probably would have beat him with a low 9.7 had he stayed healthy. Sounds good anyways.