Bolt 9.88

I believe it was 1.0 tailwind.

Sprint Geezer wrote:

Kind of lame times from everybody, compared to what they have been running this season.

Too cold? Headwind?

9.88 in this race is probably equivalent to a 9.80 in a "fast" race, so Bolt is still up there.

Carter looked very good.

It was a 1.0 tailwind. It was a fast race. Carter was .02 from beating him. Bolt was way behind the field the first 20m, a terrible start along with Christophe.

Bolt is NOT still up there. He's done.

This was the kind of race biomechanicists predict Bolt SHOULD be running--inferior start, took a long time to get into top gear, then long-strided to the win.

Bolt said yesterday that he is not in 9.58 form.

No kidding.

He never will be. We will never see a 9.58 again in our lifetimes. It is a ridiculous, laughable time.

Powell is looking good. I would even venture that Blake or maybe Mullings would have beaten Bolt in Monaco, and Carter was sure close.

So far this year, Bolt is about as fast as Ngoni Makusha.

In fact, his 9.91 into a slight headwind earlier this season was faster than this race. He is not improving.

I didn't want to believe it but now i do. Bolt was on drugs.

I think it's premature to say that he's done.

He just beat Carter, Frater, Rodgers, and Lemaitre.

Who else is there? Powell, Blake, and Mullings, maybe Dix, Bledman, Makusha?

He's still possibly in the mix for a medal at WC's.

I think he could easily be shut out of the medals, though. In fact, if everybody is on form, he will get a so-so start, and then tighten up trying to pass everybody, and will get blown away by the fast finishers like Dix, Blake, Powell, etc..

No drugs, no glory. You can see it now, since Jamaica instituted drug testing.

Tyson picked not the best year to have surgery, but if this is the true drug-free Bolt (and not actually the effect of injury that won't be there next year) we are looking at, I say Gay wins the gold in London.

HORRIBLE start from Bolt. HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Bolt looks way too big now. He looks labored during every race. That trademark acceleration from 20-60m where he just blows everyone off the f-ing track is not there. He is having to win Carl Lewis style - in the last 15m. This is not Bolt. Something is way off.

Remember makusha has only done about 5 100m dashes so far in his collegiate career. His 9.97 and 9.89 the only ones where he tried. His 9.89 in fact, he slowed up a bit at the end looking at the time Bolt-style.

I was at the ACC championship meet where he ran sub 10 first and his start was fantastic. I don't know how he got such a bad start at NCAA's but if he gets it right like he did in his 9.97 i'm almost positive he can go 9.7

I predict one of two things will happen to Bolt at Worlds.

1) He'll juice again and get caught. Probably win with a 9.6.

2) He won't medal at Worlds.

What? 9.58 and 19.19 were run on drugs? NO WAY!!!

And a winning time of 9.88 with a 1.0 tailwind isn't a fast race, especially when you consider that Lemaitre ran over 10 when he should have been running a 9.95 in those conditions.

Lemaitre was disappointing in this race, it was his chance to kick some ass and he failed.

Bolt is actually pretty amazing. He runs what was essentially a crappy race, and WINS over some guys who don't suck.

I agree that he's not improving, though. This race didn't look good, and I don't buy his "coming back from injury" stuff.

It looks like he lacks basic fitness. He has lost power delivery to the ground. There is somewhere he's lacking a good connection--maybe his ankle flexion is weak, maybe his hips are sagging, I don't know--whatever it is, the power application is not there.

He will get blown away if he doesn't improve, and fast.

Makusha's been in hiding, hasn't he? Any news?

IF he can put it together, he will medal, but that is a big IF. If you have to rely on luck, you're not in a good spot!

Hopefully he has been training 100's.

Hey d, didn't you say that if Bolt didn't look any better in Monaco that you would be convinced that he was using in the past?

And IF Jamaica is now clean, then holy crap, Powell is the fastest clean sprinter ever, along with probably Donovan Bailey.

Interestingly to me, if they are clean, and we are seeing the top guys clustered around high 9.7x to low 9.8x, that confirms all my earlier theories about the fastest cleanly achievable 100m times.

Any guesses about the winning time at world's?

The only thing you can say is that maybe Bolt didn't see Carter way over there, thought he had the race in hand, and didn't apply himself...didn't go as hard as he should have and got lucky to win.

He knew Carter would be there--that's why he looked over at the end of the race. Not to confirm that he won, but to see IF he won.

He knows he is vulnerable. Carter should have beat him in this race, and Bolt just got lucky.

coach d wrote:

The only thing you can say is that maybe Bolt didn't see Carter way over there, thought he had the race in hand, and didn't apply himself...didn't go as hard as he should have and got lucky to win.

No that's already void because Bolt was shaking his head at the scoreboard when he saw the time. People think Bolt is coasting but he's not. I know because I run with the same long strides and people think im chilling because i don't turnover like everyone else.

I predict a 9.6 from Asafa Powell though. From the get go he'll take control of the race and with no Tyson he won't stress.

I do think 9.6x may be within his reach this year.

I would love to see it, almost as much as I would like to see Bolt shut out of the medals.

Bolt is clearly not the same. But Asafa is a guy who runs well in the circuit, but has problems in championships with heats. That's why I think Rodgers might be able to sneak in and grab a medal. I think Dix is more likely in the 200.

Shut out of the medals in the 100 that is.

What are the odds that Bolt gets injured, or claims to have gotten injured, before World's?

The real story will play out next year, after the dust from this year settles. However things progress this year, there will be financial, nationalistic, and individual emotional needs that will get addressed next year, the big Olympic year.

It's not really how well people perform this year, but how they respond next year to this year's performance, that will be interesting.

Rodgers has no chance against guys like Carter, Mullings, Blake, or Bolt (excepting Powell, who looks unbeatable right now).

His 9.85 in Eugene was fake, and he can't run rounds well--look at his form in the final at trials, he was all over the place and could only manage third. I know you think he went too hard in the prelims, but all that proves is that he doesn't run rounds well.

He will get crushed.

bolt will lose to asafa powell at wc's