Ben Johnson's 1986 Zurich race

Training/Competition Videos
21

Originally posted by Charlie Francis
Treble
Watch it again. You’ll see the pick up at 50m and at 60 he’s still picking up speed. We’re working on getting a better copy for review.

Charlie
I knew he was still picking up speed. I was saying that from 60 and beyond, there was no obvious drop off in speed. Compared to the other guys. It looked like he was running on even ground and the rest of the field was going on an incline. I don’t know if he actually put a little more effort into that part of the race, only you and him can answer that. Thats why I brought up Michael Johnson, cuz he always looks like he’s speeding up when he goes into the 2nd 200m But he’s just not slowing down. And everyone else is.

Also you mentioned something about him breathing a certain way? Valsalva. I’d like to hear more about that.

22

There was a front-on shot on the original film and you could clearly see the breath and the explosion from about 5.5 to 8 seconds.

23

the 60-70m segment is insane. i must have watched it 30 times in a row.

24

'If you look closely you’ll see the burst where he takes a breath and explodes, blowing out slowly under pressure (valsalva) ’

An arguement for strong abdominals?

25

Originally posted by Charlie Francis
There was a front-on shot on the original film and you could clearly see the breath and the explosion from about 5.5 to 8 seconds.

Here is the segment of Ben’s breathing (WMV file):

26

Nice video clip Fjlee. You must have a pretty extensive collection of clips. :clap:

27

and here’s the animated GIF for those with codec problems:

28

fjlee,

Great work! Are you going to be able to post Ben’s 86 Goodwill games race where he gets a so-so start on a crappy track and still runs a 9.95?

-Balance

29

yes, I have that from your tape!

I will post it shortly… according to Charlie, Ben’s running in a Blue Canada singlet & shorts, and the photo-eye displays 10.00, but the official time was 9.95.

There were a lot of big names in that race!

30

Thanks for the second post fjlee, it seems I have codec problems! I can’t get over Ben’s upper body development, particularly shoulders and arms. Wow!

31

If you are using Windows, you need Media Player version 8 or 9.

If you want to install the codec ONLY, and not upgrade to the latest Media Player, it’s also a free download from Microsoft.

If you are using a Mac, I think the only option is to buy QuicktimePro (not the freeware Quicktime player) to view WMV files.

Hope that helps…

Of course, animated GIFS works!

32

Maybe it’s just the angle of the camera, but Ben looks like his shoulders are tensed up. Does anyone else notice this?

33

The shoulders are working powerfully but are relaxed. check the breathing and the rate he’s moving away from the pack.