Well, now that the 2012 outdoor season is basically over, I'm wondering what people think was the most significant performance this year...
My finalists would include Blake 9.69, Bolt 9.63, Makhloufi's Olympic 1500m, Eaton's deca WR, Merritt 12.80 WR, Felix 200m at trials, 4x100 WR Jamaica men, 4x100 WR USA women, among others.
Note that I believe all of these types of performances to have been juiced, except for possibly Eaton and Felix.
It's tough to pick just one. I would eliminate Bolt and Blake because there is precedent for them both. There is also precedent for Makhloufi's time and winning style.
Of all the performances, I'd have to say the USA Women 100m WR was the biggest. There have been some great relay teams in the past, but this time crushed everything, blowing away a massively juiced record in the process. It is, IMHO, a testament to the systemic quality of athletics, and is therefore more important than the performance of any single athlete. Likewise it is more important than the Jamaican men's 100m WR because they only broke their own WR, and everyone believed it possible, and many predicted it accurately--I myself was off by only .01, having had Powell instead of Frater on 2nd.
That women's 4x100 is huge, absolutely huge. Imagine somebody taking down the women's 100, 200, 400, or 800, or any of the Chinese records.
IMHO it heralds the dawn of a new era in women's T&F, where in order to compete with the guys (who have been breaking WR's left-and-right) more successfully, a new echelon of incredible times will be achieved. The new 4x100 WR is a harbinger of things to come, just the same as Blake's 19.26 was last year.
Blake's 19.26 last year foreshadowed the fastest-ever Olympic 100m final this year, his own 9.69 and Bolt's 9.63, Merritt's 12.80, etc.
Look for women's athletics, the sprints in particular, to become more exciting than the men's in the next couple of years, as they play catch-up. IMHO their rate of improvement will be significant, and some unbelievable records may very well fall before Rio. Jeter has already equaled anything FloJo ever did in the 100 except for the 10.49 Felix is, incredibly, closing in on the 200. Pearson is widely believed to have a good shot at the 100mH. These are all bogus records once thought to be unbeatable.
The USA womens 4x100 WR begs to differ.
Most significant T&F performance of 2012
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Rudisha's 800m world record.
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David Rudisha leads fastest 800m ever from start, biggest stage, Olympic Record, World Record, 1:40.91, done. Can't touch that.
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I am tempted to give the nod to Rudisha or the USA women's 4x100. And then let's not forget Mo Farah's 5k/10k dominance on his home turf. That was pretty sweet.
But my vote goes to Bolt. But I can't decide if it's his 100m performance or his 200m performance that was more significant. His 100m performance was incredible because it was not a forgone conclusion. Anyone who followed the sport knew that Blake was very dangerous, and Bolt knew it too. To come out and defend his title against that kind of competition, with the kind of pressure he was under, is amazing.
But then there is the 200. Before the games I felt like Bolt was a stronger favorite in the 200 because of his incredible top end. I couldn't see anyone, not even Blake, holding off Bolt in the final 50m. So it wasn't exactly a shock to see him win it, but in doing so he became the only man in history to pull off the repeat 100/200 double. Pretty significant performance. But by that time his confidence had to be pretty high, so I don't think he was under quite as much mental pressure. I don't know. That's just my opinion.
My vote is for Bolt's 100m win. Once that happened, the 200m wasn't really in question anymore. -
You can make an argument that Rudisha wasn't #1, but seems very odd to not even include him on your list.
I'd probably say Eaton's WR. -
It was obviously Merritt's 12.80...
Do you guys even follow this sport? -
the letter why wrote:
It was obviously Merritt's 12.80...
Do you guys even follow this sport?
WR's were set this year in the 800, 110H, decathlon, 4x100, and 4x100 womens.
Sure I can see why someone would choose Merritt. But just saying it's obvious isn't very persuasive. -
Jeter's nowhere near breaking Flo Jo's record. And neither is Felix in the 200m. The suggestion that these records might fall before Rio seems odd. If you believe Merritt taking 0.07 off the record, a record he was already close to, is a big deal, how on earth do you then suggest Felix might break a record she's over a quarter of a second off?
The women's 4x100m was awesome.
That you'd put Mahkloufi's OG medal in your list, and leave out Rudisha, is beyond odd. To put Felix' Trials run over any gold medal in the Games, or WR outside the games, is peculiar. Putting Blake's 9.69 in the final, when that's not even the fastest 100m of the year, but is a full 0.06 slower than Bolt's OG run, is ridiculous.
Blake's run was the 3rd fastest 100m (only the 2nd fastest this year), and the time has already been run 3 separate times. Unless he was wearing jeans and work boots, it's insignificant compared to world record times and gold medals.
I think you're trying to make more out of things than their actually is. the phrase 'harbinger of things to come' is irrelevant until those things actually come to be. Until then, it's not so significant.
On the other hand, there is NO precedent for Bolt's OG performance; first athlete to ever repeat the 100m and the 200m. Repeat of 3 gold medals, including a wr, and an OR, and the fastest 100m time of the year. To put Blake's 100m beside Bolt's performance is simply silly.
I guess you could always argue it depends what you mean by 'significant'? You could also significant to who? I'll bet you a dollar Mahkloufi's OG medal is the most significant performance of the year to Mahkloufi. And Galen's silver is probably the most significant performance of the decade to Galen. -
I vote for Rudisha because
(1) he set the WR while winning a gold medal at the Olympics,(2) he broke the 1.41 barrier in the 800, and (3) he set the WR under more difficult conditions than usual for his event (no rabbit). It was also a gutsy and thrilling race against top competition from top to bottom. I don't think there was any other event on the track this year where there was so little question that it was the greatest running of that event in history from top to bottom as in the Olympic 800 men's final. -
Because you didn't mention Rudisha's 800m record, I am assuming you don't know what you are talking about. But his performance was mind blowing.
Merritt's WR and season in general was the most impressive hurdling season of all-time.
The US women's 4x100 was great, especially because Bianca Knight was handing off to Jeter. Classic. I'm sure they had some enjoyable practice sessions. -
Allyson Felix's 3 Olympic Gold Medals
Felix Sanchez's 2nd Olympic Old Medal -
Rudisha. End of.
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Well, I don't know about significane in the general sense, but the most entertaining race for me was the mens 100m. Watching Bolt and Blake dust Gatlin made my season.
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clock master wrote:
Rudisha's 800m world record.
Right. I can't believe how much garbage sprint geeze was writing. Of course Bolts 9.63 is great but it's pale compared to what Rudisha has done in London. -
Rudisha, why even ask?
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Rudisha
idiot moron Sprintgeek did not even mention. Voted off the island -
1. Rudisha
1a. Merritt
49. Other stuff -
Rudisha, by a long way. Eaton is a distant second.
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Yohan Blake 9.69
Are you out of your mind saying that it's not impressive? That was the single most impressive thing this entire year. Except the women's 4x100m but that was a team effort and thus its significance is divided by four.
Rudisha's 800m WR is not impressive because we knew he could already do it. It was just another personal best. His 1:41:01 was about as good as that. It's just a different number.
Blake's personal best on the other hand... it ushered in ANOTHER new era of sprinting. This time... the sub 6 foot sprinter is BACK.
For years no one thought 9.58 could EVER be challenged. The closest we got was a 9.69 from Tyson Gay with the max allowable wind. And we saw Asafa Powell run 9.72 with barely any wind but even then he was clearly maxed out and having run the perfect race of his lifetime.
Not only did Yohan Blake challenge it... he EQUALED it with the max legal wind. And he's so young... this is the performance of the decade thus far. -
Yes we knew Rudisha could run that time EVENTUALLY
But to do it in the way that he did...
As stated above he did everything: WORLD RECORD, OLYMPIC GOLD, FRONT RUN NO PACERS, BIGGEST STAGE ALL THE PRESSURE, and to top it off, he broke a barrier. he could quit right now because he's done it all
Thank goodness he's not haha
body master wrote:
Yohan Blake 9.69
Are you out of your mind saying that it's not impressive? That was the single most impressive thing this entire year. Except the women's 4x100m but that was a team effort and thus its significance is divided by four.
Rudisha's 800m WR is not impressive because we knew he could already do it. It was just another personal best. His 1:41:01 was about as good as that. It's just a different number.
Blake's personal best on the other hand... it ushered in ANOTHER new era of sprinting. This time... the sub 6 foot sprinter is BACK.
For years no one thought 9.58 could EVER be challenged. The closest we got was a 9.69 from Tyson Gay with the max allowable wind. And we saw Asafa Powell run 9.72 with barely any wind but even then he was clearly maxed out and having run the perfect race of his lifetime.
Not only did Yohan Blake challenge it... he EQUALED it with the max legal wind. And he's so young... this is the performance of the decade thus far.
