On August 20, in Beijing, Usain Bolt ended the debate about who is the fastest man on earth by running the 200m in an incredible 19.30 seconds. This, after he had posted an equally impressive 9.69 seconds in the 100m four days earlier, writes K. P. Mohan.
Who is the fastest man on earth? The subject has fascinated the world for several decades. Is he the world record holder in the 100 metres or should he be the runner who generates the maximum speed over a given distance?
When Canadian Donovan Bailey was the 100-metre world record holder at 9.84 seconds in 1996, American Michael Johnson had clocked 19.32 seconds for the 200 metres. Some unofficial splits showed Johnson’s second 100 coming in 9.20 seconds; still others showed a few fractions slower. Of course, a flying start always gives that extra advantage. But the question whether Johnson or Bailey was the fastest remained. The majority agreed that Johnson was indeed the fastest.
Bailey and Johnson even got down to a challenge race over 150 metres in Toronto in 1997, but the American pulled up with an injury. The debate has continued since.
On August 20, in Beijing, a Jamaican, whose name the world at large had started hearing only this season, ended all such debate. Usain Bolt ran the 200 in an incredible 19.30 seconds to follow up his equally impressive 9.69 seconds in the 100 metres four days earlier.
According to ‘The Physics Factbook’, Bolt generated an average speed of 10.32 metres per second for the 100 and 10.36m/s for the 200. Johnson’s world record 19.32, on the other hand, measured at an average speed of 10.35m/s.
Bolt has changed the image of the archetypal sprinter, stout body and bulging muscles and all, to a tall runner who looks best suited for the 400. He hates that distance, however. Bolt is not the first 6ft 5in sprinter to make such an impact, though. Nigerian Francis Obikwelu, who won the 100 silver in the Athens Olympics, is also of the same height. The Jamaican is three inches taller than Carl Lewis.
And Lewis was never a great ‘starter’. Off the blocks, Bolt has the same problem because of his height. But he has improved in less than one season.
He was the seventh fastest off the blocks in the 100 metres in Beijing and sixth in the 200 metres. And yet, once those long strides started devouring distance, the rest could only make a hopeless chase.
Bolt takes around 40 to 41 strides in the 100 metres, as against up to 45 by team-mate Asafa Powell and World champion Tyson Gay of the US, 43 to 44 by Carl Lewis and 45 to 46 by former World record holder and Olympic champion Maurice Greene, and former World champion in 200 and multiple Olympic medal winner Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago.
All experts have agreed that Bolt lost precious fractions through his antics before the finish in the 100 metres though with 20 metres to go he had a commanding lead over the rest of the field and felt no need to push himself to the limits.
Boldon was quoted as saying on NBC that Bolt could have clocked 9.59, cutting down one stride from the 41 he took to the finish had he not eased up. Former Olympic champion and world record holder Donovan Bailey of Canada put it between 9.55 and 9.57.
Michael Johnson told an IAAF Press conference that he thought Bolt could have timed 9.62 if he had run through the line.
Boldon has been impressed with Bolt’s speed between 30 and 70 metres in the 100. Lewis used to stun the opposition with his acceleration past 70 to 80 metres, from where normally the deceleration begins.
Bolt did run through the line and dip at the finish in the 200 metres for that spectacular record. Michael Johnson could not see it coming as he joined the IAAF President at an official press conference in Beijing.
“He has incredible leg speed and a long stride,” said Johnson. “That combination is deadly. But the 200m has another element which is speed endurance. What we don’t know is how long he can hold that speed. I don’t think his training at the moment has enough endurance for that.
“But eventually, it will have and then I will be ready to kiss my record goodbye,” said Johnson.
“I don’t think he’ll break it here,” he added. “I will be shocked if he does. To run 19.3 he’s going to have to run the curve a lot better and hold his speed to the line.
“But then I didn’t think he was going to run 9.69,” the American, whose record had looked beyond reach for a dozen years, said.
Johnson had only praise for Bolt after the Jamaican, who turned 22 on August 21, clocked 19.30 seconds.
Can humans run 100 metres in five seconds? Beyond a limit, it will be impossible to break records, even though some have predicted further lowering of the time.
A study published in 1998 put the ultimate men’s 100m record at 9.37s and women’s at 10.15s. Bolt’s new timings, one in which he eased up and another in which he ran into a mild head-wind, will force scientists and experts to review those forecasts.
However, the fact that the world record in the 100 metres has been bettered by only a second in all of 96 years should keep such analysts under check.
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