Very interesting article here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2174851
Some of the more interesting tidbits:
"The downward march of the 100-meter record is more a measure of technological advances than athletic greatness. The race has become a thoroughly unnatural, cyborg-ized event, one that belongs in a William Gibson novel rather than a Homeric epic. Lycra unitards replaced singlets. Weight rooms and nutritional supplements have built legs so muscular that every fiber shows through the skin. Thanks to electronic timing, the record can now be broken by one one-hundredth of a second, meaning today's World's Fastest Man is 0.1 percent faster than yesterday's."
"Today, every sprinter with a lick of speed in his legs gets to be World's Fastest Man."
"Powell and Gay probably won't meet again until next August, in Beijing. If Powell wins there, he can put his name next to Michael Johnson's in the track pantheon. If not, he'll be just another World's Fastest Man. It won't be long before we have a new one, in a sleeker bodysuit, on a springier track, with a stronger wind at his back."