Gatlin 9.94 over Bolt in Rome

BTW, isn't it amazing that we are talking about 9.95 being the best of the Jamaicans in the 100m, and only 2 guys being sub-10.

Something is very, very wrong down there with the men. The system is imploding. Even the young guys coming up have their problems, guys like KBC. I have the feeling that just when his turn was coming, they made him play by different rules.

Bolt's progression prior to 2004 is normal (Nellum would be one to compare with right now, as I was at Ben Brown at Cal State Fullerton two years ago when he ran 20.8, and I saw him run 19.99 in semis yesterday). But his jump from 2007 to 2008 is NOT normal (a drop of almost 0.5 seconds after he'd dropped 0.05 in the previous two years).

You could compare with Michael Johnson. MJ improved a similar amount 1995-1996 in the 200, but his 400 did not improve (obviously he was emphasizing the 200 for the double more). While, between 2007 and 2008, Bolt became a different athlete. This simply does not happen legally after someone has been training for several years. And Bolt is not the only athlete with his coach with amazing progressions (you can have one once in a generation athlete like Carl, but when you have 2 or 3 of those "once in a generation athletes" in the same camp....):

Glen Mills = Alberto Salazar = Charlie Francis = Trevor Graham

In the Universal Sports video, Gatlin gets his first step down slightly sooner. Looks to me like Bolt is experimenting with Asafa's start and it may end up like all of us who tried Ben's start (it only works for him). Like Ben's start, you have to get out...and keep going...and the keep going part is the hard part. If you lose your momentum in the 100, you're dead: You don't get your hip height back.

"you have to get out...and keep going...and the keep going part is the hard part"

Right on, d!

At JAAA nationals, Blake has a bye in the 100, Bolt a bye in the 200.

I wonder if we will see Blake at all.

There are a lot of people who think they know a lot about sprinting, but in fact they really know less than nothing because everything they think they know is wrong.

The fact is that unless you have first-hand knowledge of drug use by Bolt, Gatlin or anyone else, you have no knowledge of their drug use.

Steroids have minimal impact on sprint performance anyway. At most they improve an athlete's ability to withstand the stupid, zealous training practices that someone like coach d would impose on him.

'I don't think it is socially useful here on letsrun to continually call Gatlin "drug cheat", '

What a load of crap we are not saying he is a sex abuser or the worst person in the world but this is a running site and he is a 2 time cheat

In winning a race over a less-than-optimum Bolt during the off season, Gatlin has created quite the monster. Not that he could have in the first place, but now he will never be able to beat Bolt where it counts. Watch Bolt for the 9.6x or even 9.5x for the championships. Gatlin will be relegated to being the 4th man on the totem pole... behind Bolt\Gay\Blake or Bolt\Blake\Gay. Remember what happened after YB beat bolt at the Olympic trails?

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'I don't think it is socially useful here on letsrun to continually call Gatlin "drug cheat", '

What a load of crap we are not saying he is a sex abuser or the worst person in the world but this is a running site and he is a 2 time cheat

Exactly right!

It's about time everyone wakes up and realizes the obvious reason bolt is dirty.

First, he is the biggest t&f athlete in the world and therefore calls all the shots at which meet he runs. If he was clean he would never run against Dwain or Gatlin. If he choose to blacklist these athletes it would really go a long way.

Second, we are all in agreement that PEDs work. Bolt knows that they work and any person in their right mind that is clean would never run against cheaters.

Third, even though most people on the boards act like PEDs are the end of the world, the t&f community is night and day from the Ben Johnson days. Gatlin is allowed to run in Diamond League meets and probably getting paid very handsomely.

In conclusion, I don't know the answer but it seems to me that if you wanns see clean athletes compete Elementary or Middle school might be your best bet. You could also watch the 7th heat of 5k at a D2 meet where guys are running 17:23.

I'm going to watch state HS champs tomorrow. Seriously.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'I don't think it is socially useful here on letsrun to continually call Gatlin "drug cheat", '

What a load of crap we are not saying he is a sex abuser or the worst person in the world but this is a running site and he is a 2 time cheat

OK, so what? How does it inform out understanding of the race in Rome? He was a drug cheat beating other drug cheats in a non-drug-cheat time, many years after his last confirmed cheating.

I still don't see what broader purpose it really serves, unless it is the enlightenment of those who don't already know--if it is, fair enough.

Like I said, I can see how could be important personally to some people, especially those close to the fire who have been burned.

I do think that it is important to never forget some things, and that context should be provided. Do I think the label is fair? Absolutely. Accurate? No, because it should be "former drug cheat". Close enough? Sure.

In THIS particular race, what the headline does is single him out. Why? Because he happened to win? Why wasn't the headline "drug cheat Rodgers gets 4th", or "strongly suspected drug cheat Bolt beaten in Rome", or best, "Convicted drug cheat Gatlin beats strongly suspected drug cheat Bolt and convicted drug cheat Rodgers in 100m run in corrupt Rome"?

He WAS pretty bad. He wasn't forced into it, and he set a WR, beating the times of known dopers in the process. He became a knowing liar. To me, that's a basic type of character flaw that doesn't change, unlike, say, the act of using PED's. It's broader, deeper, and more telling.

I don't really have any beef with the title, I just wonder what social utility it serves. It's the brojos site, and they can express themselves pretty much how they want. I would prefer "Liar Gatlin wins in Rome", though.

Whaaat? wrote:

In winning a race over a less-than-optimum Bolt during the off season, Gatlin has created quite the monster. Not that he could have in the first place, but now he will never be able to beat Bolt where it counts. Watch Bolt for the 9.6x or even 9.5x for the championships. Gatlin will be relegated to being the 4th man on the totem pole... behind BoltGayBlake or BoltBlakeGay. Remember what happened after YB beat bolt at the Olympic trails?

This^

I even agree with the 9.6x/9.5x prediction, although I don't think he will need to go that fast to win.

Blake is the wildcard so far.

BTW, I do believe that any conviction for an intentional doping offense with no mitigating circumstances should carry a lifetime ban.

Compared to the existing system, I would prefer an open season on PED's. The records are already a joke.

Just like Lance? #no1is2big

just sayin wrote:

thats prob the sad truth

hes to big now to get busted right now

he get a pass on any positives

I should probably write an editorial on Justin Gatlin calling him the drug cheat all the time.

My main beef is he never admitted to the crime even when caught. I have had another journalist tell me he thinks Gatlin was sabotaged when he tested positive. The same journalist then says don't feel sympathy for Gatlin because he says he believes Gatlin was doping.

And I can't call Rodgers or Bolt drug cheats because they haven't tested positive.

Meanwhile, I'll be cheering for Nelson Cruz of the Rangers all season even if he gets a 50 game drug suspension, yet Gatlin got a 4 year suspension.

Anyway, a question for sprintgeezer. You think Bolt will run 9.5 or 9.6 this year. Yet you don't seem to indicate Gatlin will progress to that level.

So does Bolt just totally dog it in the off season and get out of shape? Most guys aren't going to progress that much. Or is it just a matter of getting everything together because he is so tall.

You know way more about sprinting so I'm trying to flush out why you are so confident Bolt will get into shape.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

BTW, I do believe that any conviction for an intentional doping offense with no mitigating circumstances should carry a lifetime ban.

Compared to the existing system, I would prefer an open season on PED's. The records are already a joke.

Separate issue; did you say "Bolt will run 9.5 or 9.6 this year"? I totally disagree,; my prediction is this year will be the slowest for the 100m since 2007 and no one will run faster than 9.72. **Register for the iaaf news letter and read some of the back issues.**

So much wrong with this post. Just cause you think something does not make it so. Bolt has never been suspected by anyone that matters - much less convicted.

"If he was clean he would never run against Gatlin"...?????

Do you understand that a freak of nature can beat a drug cheat and not worry about what he's on. Have you seen Bolt's margins of victory over the rest of the field, whether they were clean or not? If Bolt were on PEDs, do you really think Gatlin would have won? A freak of nature on PEDS gets beaten by a "clean" ex-druggie?

And this too big to get busted theme I keep seeing is BS too. If that were the case, Balco wouldn't have wiped out the Americans. They were the biggest and most powerful around.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

I even agree with the 9.6x/9.5x prediction, although I don't think he will need to go that fast to win.

He won't need that to win but he will want to spank that a$$ decisively and remind him whose boss.

Whaaat? wrote:

And this too big to get busted theme I keep seeing is BS too. If that were the case, Balco wouldn't have wiped out the Americans. They were the biggest and most powerful around.

Lol, Marion Jones had body guards every where she went, if she could get "busted" than anyone can. It's stupid how people think Bolt controls t&f

Bolt is the goose that laid the golden egg. He IS t&f.

Marion never was. HUGE difference.