SO WHAT: Christophe Lemaitre became the first white man to break 10.00

kanny wrote:

The real question is:

ASIAN GUYS: HOW LONG UNTIL YOU ANNIHILATE THE 100M 10.00 SECOND BARRIER.

Shota Iizuka, 19 years old, has bests of 10.38 and 20.58, anchored this 4x100 team to 38.5.

Black guys of West African descent all over the world (thanks to slavery) had broken 10.00 but no white guy ever had. Now one white guy squeaks under. That's noteworthy because clearly it's HARDER for a white guy to do it. Franklin Jacobs or Stefan Holm highjumping 7'8" is more impressive than Javier Sotomayor or Patrick Sjoberg doing it because there's about a foot more of an obstacle to be overcome. Same with the interest in Solinsky's 10K; I'd say it's as much because he's about 25 pounds heavier than anyone else who's gone under 27 as it is because he's white. People love unusual performances of any kind. LeMaitre (the Master!) ran 9.98 EVEN THOUGH he's white. He overcame an obstacle that guys like Greene and Gay and Powell and Bolt don't have in their way. Hasn't everyone here thought it's weird that a huge number of black guys have broken 10 and no white guy ever had? And it's not just "black guys" --it's West African-descent black guys. No Kenyan or Ethiopian or Eritrean or Somalian black guy has broken 10, either! I'd be interested in LeMaitre's 9.98 did no matter what color I was, just like I'd be interested if a black woman won the Olympic vault, an Asian guy won a big 1500, or an Ethiopian broke 10 in the 100 meters, and like probably most of us were when Liu Xiang broke the 110m hurdles record (a much bigger deal than LeMaitre). Why does it have to be about PREFERRING a race and not just about being interested in the fact that there seem to be differences? And if you're going to call me "racist" for saying there are differences: If there aren't really any, why do guys of West African descent break 10 no matter where in the world they end up being born, living, and training, and why do some of them break it more than 20 times apiece (Greene 31 times, Fredericks 26, Boldon 22, etc.) while up to now no non-West African-descent black guy or Asian guy or white guy, no Hispanic, Samoan, Indian, Moroccan, ad infinitum, had EVER broken 10? And also: Isn't it obvious that the other groups aren't going to catch up? This kid isn't going to run 9.75, and the next world championship 100m final is going to have eight guys of West African descent in it unless some fluky thing happens like Mennea (huge altitude+barely legal wind aid).

It's an unusual accomplishment, like many others that people make a fuss about. Some of them are breakthroughs by members of the various races or sub-groups of races. Lawrence Johnson, Jeremy Wariner, Jonathan Edwards--unusual, therefore interesting. If a black guy throws 290 feet in the javelin, same thing. And if a white guy breaks 10 in the 100--something that's been shown to be very hard to do--even bigger thing.

just a sidenote, a little off subject as i dont know the skin colors of its rela team in the 1980's, but FRANCE had the WORLD RECORD in the MENS 4 x 100 RELAY for a couple of years in the 1980's.

as far as sprinting is concerned, how many white kids join track clubs at an early age? I saw an entire enormous youth track meet in Savannah this spring with not a single white kid in sight. Outside of the segregated south, I have seen a similar lack of white kids at youth/open track meets. They obviously emphasize sprinting and the longest distance is typically 800m or so. Maybe that's why this country is so good at sprinting and why it's dominated by African Americans. The same seems to hold in football. In Savannah at least, I saw 12 simultaneous youth football games going on at once at Daffin Park every Saturday in fall, with thousands of spectators. Not a single white person outside of a referee. Basketball is similar. Is intense participation in sports that common for white kids? I don't think so.

One clarification: my guess is that black pole vaulters, javelin throwers, et al. could excel at any level, unlike white 100-meter runners. If those events had the status in the U.S. that the NFL and NBA do, Thorkildsen and Isinbayeva would have a lot more to worry about.

Lemaitre has a completely different stride than black sprinters that is the key. White guys trying to run black is idiotic.

douglas burke wrote:

just a sidenote, a little off subject as i dont know the skin colors of its rela team in the 1980's, but FRANCE had the WORLD RECORD in the MENS 4 x 100 RELAY for a couple of years in the 1980's.

A little less than a year 1990-91.

38.19 United States USA München 100972

38.03 United States USA Düsseldorf 030977

37.86 United States USA Helsinki 100883

37.83 United States USA Los Angeles 110884

37.79 France FRA Split 010990

37.79 Santa Monica Track Club USA Monte Carlo 030891

37.67 United States - 1 USA Zürich 070891

37.50 United States USA Tokyo 010991

37.40 United States USA Barcelona 080892

37.40 United States USA Stuttgart 210893

Yeah - that race was pretty exciting - I think he's going to do it as well. The Japanese record is 10.00 and 12 years old. So close, yet so far...

malmo wrote:

kanny wrote:

The real question is:

ASIAN GUYS: HOW LONG UNTIL YOU ANNIHILATE THE 100M 10.00 SECOND BARRIER.

Shota Iizuka, 19 years old, has bests of 10.38 and 20.58, anchored this 4x100 team to 38.5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh6l1uQDbHk&feature=player_embedded

I do think that his video being on the front page had the possibility of being racist. His performance was of a high caliber, but not equivalent with other performances usually presented on the front page in that manner. The reason that occurred was due to his skin color. Now given the chance of an athlete of African descent being shown for a similar unusual performance I would reevaluate the situation and not view this in any way as racist.

The USA has a history of racial issues that accompany it's diversity and immigration history. The flip side of this argument is that the same attention was given to Obama when he won the elction as a black president. Why was his race necessary to be flaunted in the way that Lemaitre seemed to be on the frontpage? That seemed racist in the exact same situation as this thread. I just hope that the trend to notice race for its cultural value, and community but not cause the tension observed in the past continues.

37.79 4 x 100 WR Sept. 1, 1990:

- Max Morinière (born in La Martinique, French Antilles)

- Daniel Sangouma (born in La Réunion, French island near Madagascar)

- Jean-Charles Trouabal (parents born in French Antilles)

- Bruno Marie-Rose (parents born in La Martinique, French Antilles)

Ronald Pognon, the ex-record holder of the 100 meters in France, is also from La Martinique, French Antilles.

The only time you should really worry about racism and distinguishing between races is when the government is doing it. We are free people here, so we can notice whatever we want. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging race as long as it's not connected to the government. If slavery hadn't happened, do you think people would be so worried about say white this and black that, even though it's not explicitly derrogatory. Lighten up. People will notice race if they want, and there's really no reason for anyone to object unless they are going on a crusade to eliminate any distinction between races from the minds of people. Calling people out for things like this which we find interesting is just absurd.

Hey guys, it's so cool that Vipam is so completely NOT RACIST that he can't even bring himself to show respect for a white athlete like Lemaitre. He's like, so totally colorblind and, like... DUUUUDE. What? Oh yeah, I was just saying, by ridiculing Lemaitre about how he's only slightly faster than Jeff Demps was in high school, Vipam clearly proves that he is on the forefront of the movement toward racial equality in America. He is probably the most non-racist person on letsrun. Conratulations Vipam!

WTF?! Wariner is white?!

Practically every time the US Track team goes to a major championship, they end up having to dedicate the entire event to Jesse Owens, wear his initials on their uniforms, etc. Then ESPN treats us to endless fawning, adulatory retrospectives on Jesse Owens. And Jesse Owens did WHAT exactly? He wasn't the first black in the Olympics. They had been competing from the start! He wasn't even the first black winner! So he was a black on the squad when Hitler happened to be chancellor of another country. Big deal. There were lots of blacks on lots of teams. Let's face it: Jesse Owens was a pretty good runner, the best in his day, but not as fast as Christophe LeMaitre. And yet it's required for us to worship Jesse like a god, while wrong to note LeMaitre's achievement?

I'm guessing that kid'll slow down some once he finds out those black dudes aren't actually chasing him.

best speed to credit risk ratio of all time ?

Who cares that he's white?

He's clearly the sprinter with the worst technique ever to have broken 10.00. He looks on a par with the young Usain Bolt, flopping around, unable to maintain a straight line, uneven arm action and cadence, etc.

If Clyde Hart or Linford Christie got a hold of this guy, he'd burn Wariner.

dinosaurchaser wrote:

Who cares that he's white?

He's clearly the sprinter with the worst technique ever to have broken 10.00. He looks on a par with the young Usain Bolt, flopping around, unable to maintain a straight line, uneven arm action and cadence, etc.

If Clyde Hart or Linford Christie got a hold of this guy, he'd burn Wariner.

His "technique" is fine, even if his motion isn't pretty.

Lemaitre's upper body form reminds me of Bob Hayes. Go back and watch the '64 Olympic final and see if you can see the similarities. They both seem to dip their right shoulder, and have unorthodox arm movements, although Lemaitre seems to be flailing while Hayes seems to be punching the air.