I am aware of all the facts re FloJo, etc.
She was more ahead of her time than anyone, ever. Incredibly, she still has the records, even though I agree 10.49 is questionable. BJ would have gone 9.73/9.74 if he had continued, but that has been equaled—in fact, it is as good as anyone but Bolt. Bolt’s records have been around a while, but FloJo’s have been around forever—and although ET may be there in the 100, Blake actually has the 200 record less RT, so Bolt is not supreme at both distances—he has already been eclipsed in the 200m, some years ago.
FloJo had only just begun to run at that speed, kind of like 2021 SCR. She didn’t even have time to figure it out. She was perfect. Jeter came close in some ways, ETH in other ways. Like the raft of low/mid-9.7 guys, ETH has at best only equaled FloJo, and only in the 100. It’s not close. ETH’s longevity works against her, she has had plenty of time to figure it out. FloJo was like the meteor that occasioned the KT extinction event—everything before was destroyed, everything since is in the shadow—including ETH.
On the men’s side, BJ was the meteor, but green shoots appeared early. Yes 9,58 is a good whack from 9.7. I have argued that we are now in the Bolt era, at least in the 100m—but so far, the Bolt era is of only comparable age to the BJ era...and it was the BJ era that made us realize that these kinds of things—insane records by 0.20-0.25 over prior eras—were possible. The Bolt era had precedent, the BJ era did not; that, along with the way it is done, is why we are arguably still in the BJ era.
FloJo is way ahead of either of them, at the moment. The more time that passes, the closer Bolt gets, as long as somebody hones in on 21.34...which no-one is.
Sprinters don’t need any of this info, btw—all you have to do is watch. The power, the grace, the balance, the incomparability. Epic. The best ever, so far.