Well if you all have not checked out the Poll section about the best sprinter you should. It is located at the bottom of the first page. There are a lot of people who think MJ is the best sprinter of all time, but I knwow for a fact it is Ben Johnson. He is the most talanted ever.
So check it out and leave your vote all Ben Johnson supporters.
Yea
How can you claim to “know” a subjective label as “fact”?
Ben Johnson is the best just as he said. If you don’t believe this then match him with any sprinter and name one that he could not beat.
Two possible criteria for ranking the “best” in any sport.
1] Peak value 2] Career value
Ben at his peak was obviously as formidable as anyone ever. Maurice and Michael Johnson had long spanning careers at the top and the argument could easily be made for one of them based on that, regardless whether Maurice could have actually taken Ben down in a fantasy 100m. [likely not]. This way of looking at the “best” explains how a guy like Bill Walton made the NBA’s greatest 50 of all time. It sure wasn’t on his career value. His peak value, based pretty much on 1977, was high enough to get the nod from the voters, and this is why we might never agree. Fun anyway.
Michael Johnson is the greatest sprinter of all time, and i don’t have to explain why! and am not going to.
But the best 100meter sprinter ever is Maurice Greene. Its all about consistantly i think what makes you great.
But i do think Ben Johnson was a great sprinter!
Ben was a great 100m sprinter as is Mo. But, overall MJ was the greatest “sprinter” of all time as his 200/400 times are WR and his 100m time (10.09 I believe) is still one of the fastest considering he wasn’t a pure 100m sprinter.
This kind of discussion is useless
Ben was the best sprinter in 80’s while Mo was it for these last years
Stop!
Every period has his best athlete
we can only say that Mo started to win earlier than Ben and that Ben had the best coach of his period…
Seoul’s race was wonderful but also Edmonton’s one was monstre!
valerio
Thank you all the Ben Johnson supporters. We are now tied with MJ in the Greatest sprinter poll. For the people that are trying to measure a persons worth by a whole career think about this. Ben never got the chance to run as many years as mo so I think that if he would have ran at 27 28 and 29, he would have been the best and way more consistant than Mo altough I like Mo Greene. I think he is a class act. Plus when Ben Johnson tried to come back in 1998 at 36 I think he is so talented that he was in still great condition to go after the world record. The iaaf should not have denied him.
[SIZE=7]Ben all the way[/SIZE]
Are we voting on best “sprinter” (as in the 100-400m events) or the best 100m sprinter? We need clarification. This debate will keep raging on until you decide what EXACTLY you’re trying to vote on/discuss.
The IAAF did not allow Ben to run because he got caught…again.
THe best 100m sprinter undoubtably based on overall performance is Maurice. No one, and I mean no one has run as fast as he did, as many times, and for that long. He was always consistent and he ran a 9.82 at Edmonton with tendinitis in his knee and midway through tore his quad and hammy. We cannot assume what Ben might have run. He ran the times he ran and fate took him in another direction. I think Charlie would agree that overall Maurice was/is the best.
I think you just opened up another can of worms 
You are right, we need to differentiate between the best 100, 200, and 400 meter sprinters. We might as well include some 150 meter runners in there as well.
It’s a very subjective matter.
Fact is, that Mo and Ben have the same PB.
Mo had a longer career and the biggest number of fast times.
But on the other hand one could say that Ben was capable of even faster times, but his career was ended.
Bob Hayes 10.06 from 1964 is quite impressive (think about WC03), especially concidering the quality of the track 40(!!!) years ago. But his career was ended, too - for other reasons.
I would not give so much credit to Jim Hines (one of the greates sprinters, though), because I would not call >2400m altitude legal conditions.
So Ben and Bob are/were “maybe more talented” than Mo and the early end of their career can be hold to their advantage or disadvantage.
“Who knows what happened if…”
MJ was dominating 200 AND 400 like nobody else and his times are still far beyond the capabilities of any sprinter - past and today.
<10.10, <19.50, <43.50 is simply incredible.
If you forget about times and take international success you could take Carl Lewis for the greatest sprinter.
Ben, Mo, Carl, MJ - all number one, in different aspects…
Well said Sowjet.
Although I believe that MJ is one of the most remarkable athletes of any generation. Watching him at Seville in '99 is ridiculous. In his semi final he jogged the last 100 metres and still could have won the championships with that. I don’t think I have seen any sprinter who was so far and away dominant over the rest of his peers (arguments can and will be made for Ben and Flojo).
On another side question, I have always believed that if Michael had run that last 100m of his Seville semifinal hard he would have broken 43 seconds. Anybody else concur? He ran 43.95.
Where was Dominique ?
He should of been in the top 50.
Ben all the way + Michael Johnson.
Ben ran 9.79 was capable of 9.71 that very day.
Mo ran 9.79 and when he ran 9.82 he was capable of 9.75/9.76
that very day (on a thinner track than Ben’s in soeul.)
Mo stopped getting better and he burned out, though he was amazing.
I think Ben if he could of stayed motivated and not got caught,
would have run 9.60/9.65 sec.
Why not 8"90?
valerio
@Juggies:
Interesting question, but I don’t know the split times of that race. One could make a better guess knowing his split times…
MAURICE GREENE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!
And he is’nt finished yet, ITS NOT OVER UNITL HE LEAVES THE TRACK AND HE HAS’NT LEFT YET.
Whats wrong with you people, you can clearly see that Greene is the best.