Usain Bolt

[Colly Wolly]

I'm watching the men's qualifying 100 meters. This cat from Jamaica named Usain Bolt just ran a 9.92 and looked like he was out for a leisurely stroll. He was looking left and right for the last 20 meters of the race. No need to go all out in a qualifier I guess, but holy crap that dude is a burner.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by Colly Wolly

I'm watching the men's qualifying 100 meters. This cat from Jamaica named Usain Bolt just ran a 9.92 and looked like he was out for a leisurely stroll. He was looking left and right for the last 20 meters of the race. No need to go all out in a qualifier I guess, but holy crap that dude is a burner.

That was quite impressive. I'd bet Jamaica goes 1-2 in the 100.

[SteelBlue]

Spoiler alert!!!!!!!! Fair Warning: stop reading if you don't want to know.

Imagine if he had really tried. Pounding his chest, turning up the palms of his outstretched arms, mugging for the cameras before he even crossed the finish line, Usain Bolt rewrote the record books again and captured his first Olympic medal Saturday, toying with the field and running the 100-meter dash in a stunning 9.69 seconds.

That's right he destroyed the field, broke the world record all while trotting the last 7 strides and jerking around for the cameras. It was obvious last night watching the prelims that nobody would touch him but man, why would you not want to run the whole race? Seems a very strange mindset to me. He could have set a record that nobody would touch for a generation.

[bluegoose]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Spoiler alert!!!!!!!! Fair Warning: stop reading if you don't want to know.
That's right he destroyed the field, broke the world record all while trotting the last 7 strides and jerking around for the cameras. It was obvious last night watching the prelims that nobody would touch him but man, why would you not want to run the whole race? Seems a very strange mindset to me. He could have set a record that nobody would touch for a generation.

The only thing that I can think of is he was just trying to leave some room for improvement. He's only 21 with a handful of good years in front of him. If he lights it up in 9.59 like Bolden estimates (and I would agree), where does he go from there?

Totally amazing race.

[ute4ever]

From what I've heard, those sprinters are terrified of something blowing out, because during many of those lightning sprints they feel their ligaments about to go. And with many of them competing in multiple medal events a la Michael Phelps, they don't want one particular race to become an all-or-nothing.

In 1996, I remember Michael Johnson similarly "slowing down" during heat after heat. During his famous 200, when he dropped a 19.32, he had a slight stumble at the start, so then he gave it his all for the entire race because he was afraid of finishing below 20.00.

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by bluegoose

The only thing that I can think of is he was just trying to leave some room for improvement. He's only 21 with a handful of good years in front of him. If he lights it up in 9.59 like Bolden estimates (and I would agree), where does he go from there?

Totally amazing race.

I told Gidget last night that if Bolt gets into the 9.5 territory which I think is more than likely (probably could have had he not started celebrating with 20m left), that nobody else will touch that record for a long time. That dude is a freak. Someone needs to teach him how to catch and send him on fly patterns down the sidelines.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by bluegoose

The only thing that I can think of is he was just trying to leave some room for improvement. He's only 21 with a handful of good years in front of him. If he lights it up in 9.59 like Bolden estimates (and I would agree), where does he go from there?

Totally amazing race.

Nah. I think he was just showing off. Cocky young kid.

Mind-blowing race, but it's a shame we won't know what he could have done.

[TripletDaddy]

Was anyone else annoyed by all the mugging afterwards? Too much showboating afterwards, a la the US team in Sydney.

I also got a kick out of the women's marathon winner. It seemed like she kept doing victory laps for about 20 minutes after she won the thing. The cameras would cut to other events, then come back to the women's marathon and you would see that woman in the background, running somewhere with her flag.

[MikeWaters]

he has an incentive not to break the world record in devastating fashion. because when he goes to the European meets, he will be paid to break the world record.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

he has an incentive not to break the world record in devastating fashion. because when he goes to the European meets, he will be paid to break the world record.

That would explain it.