usain bolt has just broken his 12 year old record, winning the 200m in 19.3 flat. no easing up short of the line this time.
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
It was an awesome run.
I suspect that this was the harder record than the 100m as Bolt gave it absolutely everything. -
bitter lemons for michael johnson
Amazing stuff. He looked straight at the time - he obviously knew he was just racing against the record.
Frankie Fredricks and Ato Boldon (who came second and third to Johnson in 1996) would have come second and third this year, as well. The rest of the field were miles off.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Bolt gave it his all this time and delivered on his promise, clearly wanting that World Record which I thought would never be broken. Now it’s his it probably won’t be.
If there’s any hope for those who think that Bolt will dominate for the next few years, they can take some small crumb of comfort in the fact that the conditions that will be offered in London 2012 will be less conducive to free flowing sprinting than in the humid rarefied atmosphere on offer in Beijing. Not sure Bolt’s frame and technique will suit a brisk Northerly somehow.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
He almost looked like he was trying in this race. He was fucking tearing into it. His action wasn't as smooth as in the 100, and you could see it in his face. Fair dues to him he's a fast fucker.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Johnson looked so happy in that footage they showed of the commentary box on the BBC. No bitter lemons.
Fantastic run, that.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
He was running into a headwind as well to make it even more spectacular. Michael Johnson was very gracious and complimentary. He's got a lot of class.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Fucking heel he has some stride on him. He should have a crack at the long jump because I reckon he'd post a decent distance there as well.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
The 4x100m relay is going to be very interesting. Bolt will probably have to come from behind, or at least run level with his American competition, assuming he doesn't start (that will probably be the case), which will compell him to give his absolute best. It's going to be one hell of a race. When does it come in?Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Nobody mentioned the weirdness of the silver- and bronze-medal performances. I only just read online about the circumstances.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
what happened?Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
The second-place guy, Spearman, was DQd for going outside of his lane. Then the US officials, in reviewing the film to protest (which they withdrew anyway), noticed that the bronze medalist, Churandy Martina, had also gone outside of his lane, so the fourth- and fifth-place finishers actually ended up with the silver and bronze.
Edit: I got Spearman and Martina reversed; they were originally third and second, respectively.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
there's a joke about spearmans rank order in there somewhere. maybeComment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
I actually thought Johnson was incredibly magnanimous in "defeat", so to speak. To see a world record you've held for 12 years go by just 2 hundreths of a second must be agonizing at some level, but he seemed really made up for Bolt. Bet inside he was praying "start showboating, start showboating!".
Can Bolt run the 400m? Most 200m specialists give it a try at some point. If he does, maybe at the Worlds next year, might he take Johnson's other "unbeatable" record - and has anyone ever held the WR at 100m, 200m and 400m at the same time?Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
That conversely makes you wonder how well Johnson would have done at the 100 metres - an event he never really tried. I dunno about Bolt over 400 - I think you might be right, he could run it close. Thing is, would he want to? The UK's John Regis hated the 400m, never ran it as an individual, but in the relays posted sub-44 second runs.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
The jump from 200m to 400m for a sprinter like Bolt is not as automatic as you might think. It's a different beast altogether, in which the ability to sustain very high effort weighs a little more than the ability to accelerate and to hit high top speed. I would guess he'd be decent at 400m but not medal material.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Indeed, many specialists consider the 400 to be the most difficult of all of the track events, as it has essentially evolved into a sprint over a distance that used to be considered much too long for such a sustained effort, with the added complication of four curves.
When I was a kid (in the pre-Lee Evans era), the 400 was actually a rather tactical race, rather lik the 800 is now. Johnson was devastating on the turns, which is one of the keys to his mastery of the 200 and 400; the fact that there is no curve in the 100 and the fact that starts were not his strength are likely reasons he never seriously tried the shorter distance.
History would seem to say that Bolt has a better chance of medalling at the long jump than the 400, but after what he has done this week, I am loathe to suggest that there is anything the man cannot do on the track. The fact that there are serious conversations about his breaking 19 seconds is virtually beyond belief.
The 4 x 100 is on Friday night (Beijing time), and should be a classic.
In other news, Jacques Rogge is a twat.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
what a dickhead. Bolt seems to be genuinely very popular with the other atheletes, I doubt they're particularly unhappy with him dancing around. I think they've just given up on jealousy as being utterly pointless. Maybe Rogge should have a go at that australian woman who went absolutely when she won a silver in the hurdles.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Looked it up UA, the 4x100m final is going to be at 10:10am Friday EST., or 3:10pm GMT.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
I was going to post that the early rounds in the 4x100m are actually fun to watch because some really good team often ends up screwing up the baton exchange or DQing for going out of bounds.
Sure enough, the US team managed to fuck up. That's a shame really, it would have been tremendous to see the Bolt put in the effort of his life covering 100m with a "rabbit" in front of him or by his side. He would have caught anyone 6 or 7 meters in front of him. That would have been the athletic highlight of the entire olympics.
It's weird to see a 100m result where the top finisher is Belgium and the US is at the bottom. You'd think this was a beer-making contest.
Oh wait, that was the women's 100m relay. Unbelievable, both the US men and the women managed to screw up in the prelims, holy cow.
So it looks like the Men's relay is all sorted out, Jamaica for gold, Trinidad for silver. Canada and Japan are going to slug it out for bronze (go Canada!), or they could both get an upgrade if the aforementioned Caribbean teams DQ. They probably won't though, they're having too much fun to screw up.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
I liked Steve Cram's remark before one of Bolt's races: "he looks like he's on his way to the beach, while the others look like they're headed for bad news."
Can't wait to see him run again.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Another world record for Jamaica. Perfect run by Japan for the bronze.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Japan's 4 x 100 is the antithesis of the US team. None of them would make a serious US college team as individuals, but I'm very happy that they medalled.
What happened to the Jamaican women? They should have won easily.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
one runner failed to give the baton to the other.Comment
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bitter lemons for michael johnson
Can I invoke a "ding" on that sentence? Medal is not a verb!but I'm very happy that they medalled.Comment
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