Just watching him in slo-mo both in the 100m and 200m. I don’t have a trained eye, but relative to Crawford, for example, he appears to almost be bounding a little bit at top speed, [albeit with excellent frequency] . It obviously works for him. Crawford seems to just ‘run’ by comparison. Am I seeing things?
You are not seeing things. Gatlin definitely has more of a gallop in comparison to Crawford’s running style.
What most may observe, is that as an athlete reaches an elite level of performance, in his/her respective discipline, technique/form tends to become a highly personalized expression of the sporting activity.
This may clearly be seen in the different techniques of throwers (track and field, baseball, football), jumpers, sprinters, hitting styles in baseball, jump shots/free throws in basketball, slap shot in hockey, fighting styles in boxing, and the list goes on…
Once the motor qualities have been sufficiently developed so as to exhibit elite performance in a respective sport, the actual technical execution of the sporting/skill activity has much more room for variance.
BTW:
Does anyone have stats (weight, height) for Gatlin, Greene and Crawford?
BTW: if my eyes don’t fool me Gatlin took 39 steps for the last 100m, Crawford 43…
Only what the official Athens page tells us - sounds quite probable:
Gatlin 1.85 m/6’1" 83 kg / 183 lbs
Crawford 1.77 m/5’10" 81 kg / 179 lbs
Greene 1.75 m/5’9" 81 kg / 179 lbs
This is a very good and interesting point. Its sort of like the ‘you tomato i say tomarto’ scenario. Its about using a technique or style that suited to YOU. On the subject of Gatlin, I was having a discussion with an ex training partner who commented on Gatlin’s “terrible technique”. I was shocked and astonished at such a remark. Gatlin has a boundy stride (mine is very similar). I find this works well for me because i don’t have the greatest cadence in the world. Seeing Gatlin win with his particular technique was inspirational because it showed the world that you can be an individual and have whats known as “strange technique” and still be a champion.
I would have thought that Gatlin would bound. Volume and types of bounds I wouldn’t have a clue.
Charlie/Forum, One remark that was also made in the conversation was reference to Gatlin’s ‘flicking’ of the foot. Would I be correct in thinking that this is the dorsi-flexed foot going into Plantar-flexion? Is it an advised method? I did try this in practice last night much to the shock of others. It felt good and it felt like my touchdown times were lighter and faster. Any views?
they also make ultimate use of their body style. lauryn williams is like those racing planes that are all engine and she runs like that. crawford, to me, is the most graceful looking and the most graceful running of all the sprinters.
Thanks AUT - very interesting (btw. …wonder are these accurate …)
Crawford is seriously ripped @ 179
Interetsing Mo and SG are both 179
I always think Crawford looks like he’s a horse when he’s running. Like he’s sitting down and his legs come out of his chest because he looks like he’s sitting.
Maurice Greene was huge. I’ve never seen him so big. Shawn Crawford is a specimen as well.
And then we have Jeremy Wariner, who hardly looks like a sprinter. I can’t imagine that his weight training has been all that extensive. Just goes to show that there isn’t one body type that predominates - just whatever works.
I used to enjoy watching Deion Sanders play. He probably had the best combination of top-end speed and lateral quickness that has ever existed in the NFL. But his running style was odd. He seemed to never lift his knees into the air. But boy did it get the job done.
Remember Donovan Bailey and the hitch in his stride? It seemed to happen at top speed.
Donovan Bailey by top speed was the fastest man ever so his stride must work
I think you’ll get a lot af arguments from board members on that premise as Donovan does not in fact own the fastest accurately timed 10m splits in history [Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis do if memory serves from a previous thread on this board].
well thats what i heard, i could be wrong…
From what I heard on CBC it’s Donovan himself perpetuating this myth!
that could explain it, he was damn fast though