Scheduling

Track & Field 100m
1

“It was very hard to run fast because the turnaround was really, really short,” he said. “It was ridiculous. I felt so good in the semi-finals. I thought it could have been a fast final.
“But by the time you get back and relax, it is time to go back out. My legs felt dead at the start. Athletes need time to recover. I don’t know who decided that but it was really stupid. That’s why the race was slow.”
-Usain Bolt

Discuss

2

I compiled data on the scheduling last week. I’ll probably make an article out of it as the discrepancies between events, and even the same event relative to the men and women, is profound in certain cases.

3

Had to be a reason he didnt go 9.7 or faster. I thought he would go 9.7 low to 9.6 after that semi

4

so did I… he really looked easy running the semi in 9.86, and at this point I trust what hes saying, since hes obviously knows himself by this point

5

which brings up another interesting maybe trivial point… has anyone ever run two sub 9.9’s an hr apart?

6

not that I know of

7

How much time was there between Asafa’s 9.74 and 9.78 in Rieti in 2007?

8

DeGrasse did a good job but the results of 9.8 to win was a bit shocking given what the lead in was like. I felt the end result time was disappointing at best.

The schedule favored the favorite with the greatest speed reserve.

Look up the schedules of previous Olympic and world Championships to see what the spacing was like. Best to look further back before television advertising and competition did not have the ultimate say in all things.

9

I guess I am seeing things differently, he never looked great to me in the heats or all year. Even if bolt had more rest than he got, I think bolt at best would be 9.75. He hasn’t run fast (for him) in a while, and IMO his starts and accel phase have become progressively worse since London. He just hasn’t put any times up that I’m questioning where and how everyone thought he would do so well.

10

And for reference, in 2008 when he ran 9.69 he ran 5 races sub 9.9 leading up to that performance. Contrast that with this year … 1

11

Valid points, however, I would surmise that many of the votes of confidence stem from, if nothing less, how seemingly effortless he ran and shut it down early in the semi and still went low 9.8. Based on that clear sub-max effort, I see no reason why, given a reasonable break between the semi and final, he wouldn’t have gone low 9.7 if not high 9.6 (as he himself stated he was in 9.6 shape the week or two prior).