Bolt 19.19

I think the rounds would mean there is a net negative effect, but that may be mitigated somewhat - particularly when you consider the sub maximal effort put in for most of those rounds with his next fastest 100 3/10ths slower than his max and the 200 semi nearly a second slower than the final.

I’m not saying it made no difference, but I think with his reserve and the potentiation effect of the rounds negative is not as great as one may initially conclude.

At any rate, one of the biggest problems will be finding a meet that can afford Bolt. If he was asking for 250K before what will he be asking now? I just hope he doesn’t price himself out of the market. It may be worth his while taking a leaf from pharma pricing - charge what each market can afford rather than a fixed price for all. You have more experience in these matters than I, what are your thoughts on Bolts fees? With the number of races he has competed in, I can’t see how he is maximising profits - revenue per race yes, but not across the entire season.

I’m thinking your point about price is to Bolt’s benefit. If there are less options, he may have a chance to recover- if he runs everywhere, it couldn’t happen.

Do top guys basically plan out a yearly schedule, and then use the fee offers/negotiations to figure out exactly which meets to go to?

Or will they run at a particular time or against particular people just because the fees are high enough, even if it’s not part of an annual plan?

I imagine the second way would be more lucrative, but less helpful in the long term.

Certainly they want it planned out far in advance before the WCs but after has more flexibility, and meet promoters want that too because they need to know who the stars of the WCs are and how many they should try to get within their budget.

Bolt’s so fast he has us feeling dizzy

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Dan Silkstone Berlin
August 22, 2009
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* Bolt blitzes 200m field for stunning world record

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IN PUBS and offices and lounge rooms across Australia and around the world, let the argument begin. Is Usain Bolt the greatest sprinter the world has seen? Is he the greatest runner full stop?

He wants to be, and who could blame him? Normal-sized challenges are fast evaporating for the man who has already claimed two gold medals and two world records at the world championships in Berlin after claiming three of each at the Beijing Olympics.

‘‘I keep telling you guys, my main aim is to become a legend, that’s what I’m working on,’’ he said after setting a world record of 19.19 seconds on Thursday. ‘‘It’s a great feat for me to have broken my world record. I didn’t know I was going to break it.’’

On the minus side, the great Jamaican has been the dominant force in the sport for only the past two years.

How do you compare that with an athlete such as Carl Lewis, who showed greater versatility over a longer period and combined sprinting and long jump, two very different disciplines? Or Haile Gebrselassie, who has achieved domination and longevity - the two most difficult feats for any sportsman.

On the plus side, everything else.

Bolt is, unquestionably, more dominant than Lewis, who, from time to time, was known to lose. He blows world records away with a regularity and audacity that the great American never consistently managed.

In events previously decided by fractions of fractions of seconds, he wins by more than five metres. He produces his fastest runs on the biggest stages. Bolt’s feats here have taken the Jamaican to a level previously unseen in his sport. He does things deemed, until recently, impossible.

It was once thought that Michael Johnson’s 19.32 seconds for the 200 metres was a time built to last.

Twice now Bolt has exploded past it. It was thought that humans could not run 100 metres in 9.5 seconds. They can.

On Thursday he said there was no reason why 200 metres could not be run in under 19 seconds.

Previously, he was judged a slow starter; he has worked hard on that weakness. In the 100 metres he got away from the blocks quickly; in the 200 metres he was first out. Achilles minus his Achilles heel is a fearsome proposition.

Today he stands on the cusp of history as the 4 x 100 metres final offers up another gold medal and another record. Unfortunately for him, he needs the assistance of lesser men to get there. ‘‘I am ready for another world record with our relay, but I do not know whether my teammates are,’’ he said.

Memo to Michael Frater, Asafa Powell and co, drop the baton at your peril.

As a sprinter Bolt is beyond parallel, but as a man he is fast achieving similar status. In sport, we have known popular nice guys and swaggering showmen; not often have these traits co-existed in one man.

Before winning the 200 metres he entered the stadium wearing a T-shirt that read: Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner). How well do you reckon that went down with a German crowd already swept up in adoration?

Journalists love him because he talks well, smiles big and delivers classic quotes. Crowds love him because he dances, delights and makes all who pay to see him run leave the stadium feeling privileged to have witnessed it. He does not lack for charisma.

American Wallace Spearmon, who captured bronze in the 200 metres, admitted he had entered the race hoping for second place. That is what Bolt does to you. It seems bizarre to already be pondering how history will judge a man who we are still just getting to know. Perhaps most astonishingly of all, he is only 23.

He joked on Thursday that he would like a knighthood. If Nick Faldo can get one, then Queen Elizabeth should just hand it over without further delay. The street outside Berlin’s Olympic Stadium is named after Jesse Owens, who won gold in Bolt’s three events - as well as the long jump - in 1936. They might as well start building a new one now.

He is not one to rest on the laurels hung repeatedly around his neck these past 12 months or so. He wants to do this, at Olympics and world championships, over and over again.

We can probably say that his is the greatest short stretch of domination ever seen in the sport, that his is the greatest start to a career in living memory.

Then there’s that other bar-room argument. Roger Federer isn’t what he used to be. Tiger Woods is holding steady and Cristiano Ronaldo is an unlikeable tosser. In that argument, only Bolt is on the rise. As ever, he is moving fast.

The argument should be is he the greatest athlete of all time. I can’t think of anyone else at that level that has toyed with the opposition.

I saw a news article saying that it was even more amazing that Bolt is doing what he’s doing, because he hasn’t been training hard. I wonder how much that’s helping him, rather than hindering … :wink:

Who says? What does the writer know about it?

I don’t remember where I read it.

Dont ever confront a Kobe Bryant fan like myself like such. Kobe, Tiger, Bolt, and Federer should be said in the same breath. Nobody more. Nobody less.

If you want to bring up reasons why Kobe isn’t the man, feel free to do so.

sure, he is the faster!

Why would you include Kobe above some other NBA stars?
He has 1 NBA finals MVP. Jordan has 6, Shaq 3, Duncan 3, Magic 3.
He has 4 Championships. Russell has 11, Jordan 6, Magic 5, Shaq 4, Duncan 4, (the list of people with more is too long)

Shaq had to thanx his team for his mvp’finals titles
He was the most dominant player in NBA in last 15 years but Kobe is Kobe
Simple he is magic

This is the site you should be visiting: http://www.nba.com/ or start a new thread under ‘Other Sports’, please! :cool:

THE fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, is in the running to be one of the highlights of this year’s AFL grand final day entertainment.

The Jamaican, whose feats at the world athletics championships in Berlin have stunned the sport, was a late withdrawal from the Jamaican team ahead of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, when the athletics was staged at the MCG.

An AFL insider confirmed to The Sunday Age that Bolt’s management had been contacted and the sprint king figured in the AFL’s grand final plans, though was not yet a definite starter.

One stumbling block may be the size of Bolt’s appearance fee.

Before the world titles, Bolt’s management had indicated that the world-breaking sprinter was available for public appearances and was keen to come to Australia.

But it is believed the pricetag to lure him to Australia could be close to $500,000, a fee that the AFL may be able to split with the National Rugby League and other sporting bodies.

Bolt, who just turned 23, is the hottest property in athletics after smashing his 200 metres and 100 metres world records in Berlin to become the first man to hold both titles on the world and Olympic stages. The Jamaican has an affinity with Australia and it was revealed during the 2008 Olympics, when he first grabbed the world’s attention, that he was a fan of retired Australian cricketers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

Bolt’s manager Ricky Simms was unable to be contacted last night and AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou did not return calls.

Bolt is the pride and joy of Jamaica and, after stealing the show at the world championships, the country’s sports minister, Olivia ‘‘Babsy’’ Grange, said a ‘‘red carpet’’ would be rolled out for the star when he returned.

Great timing, sounds to me like opposition to prorunning.

Stall gift may not run this year but at the footy look what’s happening. Bolt will be the backmarker.

Kobe will look into the eye of his defender and strike fear into their eyes. He doesn’t care if you are his best friend of you’re his worst enemy. On that hardwood, he will look at you as his competitor and shut you down and take you out of the game, be it offensively or defensively. All he needs is one shot over his defender and the game is over. He can single handedly demoralize the hearts of the members on the other team. Single handedly. No player in the NBA or in the NFL or any other sport besides golf (Tiger) and tennis (Federer) demands that type of attention against their competition. When these guys are in their respective fields, your team has a really good chance of winning.

Shall I start with Shaq?? Here I go. Shaquille O’Neal is a three quarter player. Yes I said it, he plays three quarters. He’s taken out the game for the final quarter physically because he burns out. That’s why when Kobe and Shaq were together, the fourth quarter was and is still dubbed as “Kobe time”. This is the part of the game where Kobe took over the game and he still does. This is where Kobe treats it as a 100 meter dash. He outsprints everyone else on the court. He digs deep into his soul and finds that second wind and takes out the other team like Ali. Knocks them out cold. Kobe did not get all the recognition he deserved with Shaq. The gamewinners, buzzer beaters, series clinchers, Finals clinchers, etc. I dont know any other athlete with that type of will to win besides the previously stated (Fed, Tiger, and Bolt). Nobody.

Kobe is one of a kind. Never compare him to Jordan. He’s better, smarter, faster, and stronger mentally and physically.