blake looks pretty sharp in the far lane. also I see bolt has stopped using the toe drag on the first step which was highly debated in the past
I’m always curious about video taping of training to show to the world. Especially before such a big event although I guess that has to be accepted by all athletes and coaches in 2016 with technology as it is.
no secret training anymore ange…with technology nowadays your always being recorded
Blake had nice RTs, but I don’t like his hunched drive position very much.
He’s actually only “hunched” at block clearance, after which his extension is solid. I heard that Ralph Mann thinks highly of Gay’s hunched clearance and first few steps and at times Gatlin demonstrates this as well. Interesting, because I’ve criticized Gay’s start for the same reason.
Here’s some stills from the video: 
While absolute extension is not something that necessarily equates to the fastest sprint times, one is either closer to it or farther away.
Yeah there was a recent article that came out about Mann and Gatlin working on his start, and James is right in saying that Mann finds it highly favorable to handle such a torso angle during block clearance.
Article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/sports/a21183/justin-gatlin-usain-bolt-rio-olympics/
IMHO, if you can handle such extreme torso angles, without losing hip height / losing balance, or stumbling / and other aspects of mechanics, generally the greater angles allow you to drive more horizontally than vertically. Again, if you can handle it. However, weaker sprinters will usually do better with less bending over at the waist as they need more support in the vertical vector.
The real question lies in the acceleration. Given all of his access to technology, I’d presume that Mann has objective data showing that acceleration is greater with the bent position; however, only in certain sprinters who satisfy certain conditions; because a pronounced difference exists between Gay and Gatlin as Gay’s start has always been the worst aspect of his race (particularly his early acceleration) while Gatlin’s is exceptional.
in regards to james’ photos of blake- with the bent torso at the second step hes more inclined to stumble in this position rather than being in a more straighter position. has francis not got a technique for all sprinters to use?
in regards to Bretts post on gatlin/mann. honestly I cant see gatlin beating bolt. instead of keeping a low profile and shutting the f up he talks trash which was clearly evident last year and he choked. mann with his stick positions…levers are different lengths with different ranges and no 2 athletes are the same. we have seen many many athletes proving science wrong and I’m sure gatlin wont be winning the 100m in rio
thoughts?
Trash talking dilutes your own energy.
Trash talking shows the world you are focusing on someone else or something other than yourself.
For this reason alone I’d say you are right about Gatlin not beating Bolt.
It will be interesting to see how our Canadian young man will do. I am excited to see how all the athletes will do.
de grasse and bromwell will do well ange. they are keeping low profiles and staying away from the usual BS.
I’ve always been a proponent of “if it works, do it, regardless of the status quo”. That said, the bent torso position necessarily states “I’m willing to sacrifice force production in favor of using a lesser force in a more horizontal direction”.
As for the likelihood of stumbling, this deserves an important distinction: which is to state, that there’s a significant difference between the hips, thereby the COG, shifting backwards resultant of insufficient momentum contribution via arm action, and the sprinter intentionally bending at the waist while optimizing arm action.
The first one poses a much greater probability of stumbling, not the second. That said, the only means by which the bent waist position could prove objectively valuable is by having a particular sprinter perform enough trials of it to demonstrate that they accelerate faster in that way the majority of the time.
As for the 100m final in Rio, after the World Championships last year I forecasted 1. Bolt, 2. Blake, 3. Gatlin (provided all three are healthy and in top form). Bolt recently claimed he is in 9.6 shape, Gatlin opened up very fast this year, however Blake, while healthy, hasn’t shown the speed he did in previous years (yet). Never the less, it will be another great race.
Equally as interesting for me will be to see if Gatlin manages the rounds more intelligently as his 2015 World Championship loss was, in my judgement, 100% related to the blunder of him flying through the rounds.
I wonder if Blake’s position in the few few steps after block clearance are a result of being less powerful than 3-5 years ago, or some other physiological difference. In videos of some of his fastest runs, he looks to me to be more extended at the waist than he does in the recent video posted.
As to Gatlin, I hope he manages the rounds better as I’d like to see the best race possible.
I actually think Blake is consistent with where he’s been position wise. Here’s a shot, different angle, from his second contact in his 9.76 race next to Gay (who false started): 
and here’s a shot of his same bent waist during block clearance during the preceding rep in which Gay false started: 
Some shots from Blake’s 9.69 (block clearance and first few steps), not a great angle though, 
I can’t recall Gatlin of late ( last 6 months) of any trash talk. He was definitely trashing before last years worlds but appears to be a lot quieter this year, unless I’ve missed a heap. Gatlin appeared to handle USA trials wells with a WL 9.80 in the final. I think Gatlin can win this one.
Although Gatlin went 10.03 in the prelims, he went 9.83 in the heat prior to the 9.80 final. The second place finisher in the heat went 9.95 thus with the first two finishers automatically qualifying Gatlin, in my judgement, committed another error in decision making and execution in the heat and is fortunate to have dropped the 9.80 in the final.
If his nerves, or poor advanced decision, had anything to do with him running much faster than he had to in the heat against an absolutely non-threatening field, I would expect him to do a repeat of the world championships in Rio as the field will be more formidable each round.
Good point. Maybe he hasn’t learnt his lesson.
All will be revealed in a few days time ???
While he was in lane 8, he doesn’t appear to have learned. No reason to win by 0.2.