Powell smashes 100m world record

And he says hes going to better that by the end of the year because he is dissapointed at not beating Gay in Osaka. :D
 
As impressive as that is, I think the most impressive thing is how regularly this guy runs under 9.8secs. I remember when it was rare they ran under 10secs and then every now and again someone would run a freak race and hit 9.9secs and then not do it again, ever!

I don't follow athletics anymore but from that link he's run 9.77 twice before and then went on to win the final in 9.78. Awesome!
 
Wow that is fast, he truely smashed the record. Hopefully he running unassisted as so many of the top sprinters have been banned in the last 5 years for drug use.
 
Did Michael Johnson ever contest the 100m event? In his record 200m time he clocked 10 sec dead around the bend didn't he?
 
clv101 said:
Did Michael Johnson ever contest the 100m event? In his record 200m time he clocked 10 sec dead around the bend didn't he?
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faster than that I believe. I think it was around 9.5 for the final 100m, so around 9.8 for the initial 100m. In theory, johnson is the fastest sprinter in history and the greatest athlete of all time imo.

He has contested 150m, but got injured in the event racing greene when he was the 100m record holder.
John Regis actually holds the 150m record afaik.
 
weringo said:
Wow that is fast, he truely smashed the record. Hopefully he running unassisted as so many of the top sprinters have been banned in the last 5 years for drug use.
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tim montgomery and justin gatlin were the last two holders of the record. I think powell is clean. His physique is slightly more that of a floater than a powerhouse and they generally don't seem to need drugs.

Dwain Chambers
Tim Montgomery
Justin Gatlin
Linford Christie
Ben Johnson
Dennis Mitchell
Konstadínos Kedéris

All power runners and some of the most notable failures in atletics.
 
It's ok saying Johnson ran the last 100m in 9.5sec but he was already flat out as he began that last 100m. These guys do it from a standing start, hardly a fair comparison.
 
Chong Warrior said:
It's ok saying Johnson ran the last 100m in 9.5sec but he was already flat out as he began that last 100m. These guys do it from a standing start, hardly a fair comparison.
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I am completely aware of that, but he has sustained the highest average speed of any human over any distance.
 
clv101 said:
Did Michael Johnson ever contest the 100m event? In his record 200m time he clocked 10 sec dead around the bend didn't he?
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I've seen a Johnson interview where he was asked why he didn't compete very often in the 100m. He basically said that his starts were not good enough, he had the speed once he got going but gave too much away at the gun.
 
SpeedFreak said:
Actually, I have found a source that puts the first 100m at 10.12 and the second at 9.20
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/r...unning/news/rw_news_20041202_USATF_Top25.html
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Yep that's the figure that was quoted at Atlanta, I remember it well. The only time I've ever looked at disbelief at a time and needed a double take. The joke was Fredricks looked miles behind and yet still beat the old world record!

As impressive as that is, I think the most impressive thing is how regularly this guy runs under 9.8secs. I remember when it was rare they ran under 10secs and then every now and again someone would run a freak race and hit 9.9secs and then not do it again, ever!

I don't follow athletics anymore but from that link he's run 9.77 twice before and then went on to win the final in 9.78. Awesome!
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Again this is where MJ excels. He has 6 sub 19.8s times for the 200m which is something you very rarely see. According to Wiki he also "holds 24 of the top 50 and 7 of the top 10 400 meters performances of all time"
 
the BBC have a little chart up and it shows that the 100m record has only dropped by 2 tenths over 40 years! If those guys took off all their woolen running suits and god knows what other victorian gear they had and had todays eqiupment im sure theyd stuff todays record, even better if they gave up the chips, smokes and beer on the way home :D So in theory at least, runners today i reckon are slower.
 
NumptyUK said:
the BBC have a little chart up and it shows that the 100m record has only dropped by 2 tenths over 40 years! If those guys took off all their woolen running suits and god knows what other victorian gear they had and had todays eqiupment im sure theyd stuff todays record, even better if they gave up the chips, smokes and beer on the way home :D So in theory at least, runners today i reckon are slower.
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That's an interesting point. I guess it's clear that the runners of 40 years ago were disadvantages compared to today's runners (equipment, training, diet etc.) so the fact they were so close is pretty impressive!
 
I wonder how good Asafa Powell would be if he had proper training facilities? He basically runs in grass on flats (trainers, not running shoes with spikes) in Jamaica to train, doesn't he?

The Jamaicans sure are turning out some decent athletes though. Not bad for a country of 2.7m people. I guess that's what happens when you have generations of selective breeding based on physical attributes...
 
NumptyUK said:
the BBC have a little chart up and it shows that the 100m record has only dropped by 2 tenths over 40 years! If those guys took off all their woolen running suits and god knows what other victorian gear they had and had todays eqiupment im sure theyd stuff todays record, even better if they gave up the chips, smokes and beer on the way home :D So in theory at least, runners today i reckon are slower.
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Yes but you must take into account the accuracy of the timekeeping devices back then too.
 
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