https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXk71OgiL_Y
//youtu.be/FXk71OgiL_Y
Very interesting to hear Ben state that his only regret is not running through the line in Seoul.
THanks for the video Ben wouldve ran 9.5xxx mif he ran through the line. amazing. Watch the transition from drive to flight. amazing.
I think im gonna start to tuck my shirt into my tights
Bruce Jenner “Tucked it” didn’t he?
9.77 to 9.75 is safe.
Would have been great learning for everyone to see how he would have faired in a 200M in comp settings after the OLY…Oh well.
If I remember correctly, Charlie indicated that Ben would have gone 9.72-9.75 had he ran through the line. More importantly, Charlie indicated that Ben had shown no signs of imminent plateau in his preparation. Just the opposite, in fact, he was on track to achieve more unseen results subsequent to Seoul.
Thus, I view it to be entirely uncontroversial to predict that Ben would have achieved multiple sub 9.70 performances in this hypothetical past. This, weighed against the difference in track surface from that era to now would have made his case a strong one for being the fastest of all time.
I totally agree with all of your words.
In 84 Charlie said in an interview that Ben will be passing up Carl Lewis. That comment certainly caught my attention and I began my wanting to know more about CF and his ppl. I was 14 at the time.
In other years he predicted great times but Ben never got the right conditions for it.
In 87 right before the WCs he predicted 9.85 - 9.80. Money!
CF knew Ben was running faster than ever in 88 before the Oly…so YES!
If he doesn’t improve anything beyond 80 in that final in 88…9.75 is in the bag imo but I go with what CF wrote though and that it is reasonable to think he improves in the last 20m as well.
It’s very difficult trying to post from my smartphone sheesh
Oh, I just read the Fastest of all time comment.
Bolt beats everybody. No question about that.
If you are talking about Hypothetical (of course you are lol) it gets even worse for Ben vs. Bolt IMHO.
Put Bolt’s WR race from Berlin on Beijing’s Track…Phew!
Indeed, and conversely, put Ben’s 9.79 on either of those tracks, or even better Rieti’s magical track, and have him run through the finish and…
All in good fun. This is a topic for PJV no doubt.
Let’s give him the 9.72 and .05 improvement over the next 3 years and put him on Hotlanta’s Magic Carpet.
Faster tracks faster 0-30m also = faster exit velocity at 30-40, etc.
Louder Sound of the gun…faster R/T, + more pressure on the blocks at the start? Ben was already bordering on the ridiculous here already. Crazy to think about it.
Better Blocks
New Tech Shoes
Etc.
which is what? equivalent to .09 let’s say for now.
I’ve got Bolt over Ben 9.55 to 9.58
Now in addition, him and the late great CF have access to the Freelap Timing System for immediate feedback to fine tune his reps as needed.
Also, Imagine if Tom Tellez had access to freelap back in the day for his athletes…
Carl Lewis finishes that 200m at the 83 Trials in the Final and gets to 19.6x instead of easing up and raising his arms way before the Finish Line.
Joe Deloach was already pretty relaxed but damn if he couldn’t get even faster at the 200m that year. 19.6x
Mike Marsh doesn’t ease up so damn much in the SF at the 92 OLY. 19.6x
They would have known through training that when it feels so dang easy to them and not feeling like work in addition to feeling like they are floating…to well… just keep it going to the line.
Freaking incredible.
1992 Olympics 200m, Semifinal 1, Barcelona, Spain
Mike Marsh
19.73
Ben jumps out on bolt, Bolt panics, stats to grimmace…Ben relaxes outta sight on bolt. Remember, Ben had been racing one of the best sprinters ever in regards to deceleration.
Freelap, lol.
There are bit more advanced technologies then Freelap.
eg. Stazer and quite few other, pretty amazing only if we could afford them.
Charlie described Bolt as a freak of nature.
So, In this hypothetical situation I would give it to Bigman.
Well stated.
As for the 200m performances of years past. Clearly we are able to understand the rational of easing up in the semis (words of wisdom for Gatlin once again), however, as you stated regarding Carl raising his and and cruising 19.75…it brings to bare the dialogue that occurred between coach and athlete and all other modes of impact on the athletes’ psyche, of course the same goes for Charlie and Ben and Mills and Bolt and every other camp that lead to a sprinter show boating before the finish, that, ultimately, lead to these times that weren’t represent of the sprinter’s best in that moment.
Any celebratory action taken in competition, regardless if it’s a sprinter raising their hand before the line or an NFL player practicing dance moves in the end zone after a score, is, in fact, an eventuality of what was either influenced, permitted, or unnoticed on prior occasions.
Further, any apologizing for such actions is simply representative of the lack of complete preparation that exists in so many realms of sport. All of this stated in the context that the objective for the sprinter to run as fast as possible in that moment of the final and anything done to mitigate their time is to be considered a negative.
in reference to the tellez camp, mike was merely trying to qualify for the finals thus saving energy in semis in 92. carl in 84 trials 200m was stupid of him not to finish to the line but he had more events to do and also the 200m was iffy for him. joe after soeul never regained form unfortunately. tellez had many many great athletes who all used the exact same principals in which he thought. from block setup to acceleration pattern, his athletes showed it all.
check out burrell in 92 and compare him to Lausanne 95…incredible transformation!
everyone gets the jump on bolt. he never panics…
Yes correct.
If Marsh and Tellez did have access to a timer though…More than likely Marsh would have known he was running extremely fast (sub 19.70?) and eased off the pedal long before he did in that race OR maybe not and he would have continued on and say…screw it…I’ve already ran 180m… let me just take it home and see what happens…WR! Put a 1.2 tailwind on him in that Race. sub 19.6 perhaps.WOW!
Let’s double the distance now.
Q Watts eased up with 10-12m or so in the SF of the 92 OLY. 43.65 perhaps?..Easing up 10-15 meters is not going to save that much energy now is it? May as well keep going if you’ve gone that far lol
Having a timer would have helped out his awareness here.
These guys are so ready to run some super fast times they can’t hold back in the SFs.
Contrast that with MJ who ran on target for the 200m almost every single time…21.2 ish…
Imagine if MJ just let it flow just once instead of doing what he did all the time.
Crazy talented and ready these guys were.
I’ll try to get to my PC and look some links up.
the entire statement is a fallacy
I agree, to a literal extent. the point I was making, though, is that bolt frequently chases down runners who get a start on him. there’s no strong indication that he would have crumbled under the pressure of ben’s fast start…
Tommie smith might have run 19.5 or 19.6 had he not raised his arms in 68. I’m sure that track was slow compared to now. Then there’s altitude arguments. It’s hard to know. However one thing about the greats, they raced. They raced who was entered, and ran to win. Sometimes winning doesn’t necessitate a world record. I think they’re all great, every era. Hunch is Bolt’s fastest though. But that doesn’t mean in any given race any Olympic champ couldnt beat other champs.
and now for some HSI
M. Greene 9.93 .03w
day 1 of 2000 OLY Trials in Sacramento
(it’s 90 sec. in for the impatient or short on time types)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fTMa92Hh34
Insane power into the track…heading towards 9.7 easily IMO
that 80m split must have been around 8.02 even with him breaking form at the 7.5 sec. mark.
put a 1.2w and well…Crazy!
One year before his breakdown in Edmonton…limping to a 9.82.