who said the effort was all effort?
I agree. The point I’d like to make, which is of course obvious, is that the effort, or lack off effort, Bolt exerted for the 9.92 is very likely an indicator of him producing something very special when he turns it on in the medal round.
I used the rudimentary percentage example because a visual examination of of the 9.92 clearly indicates, to those of us who work with fast athletes, that his effort was quite sub-maximal especially due to the fact that the great energy expenditure associated with the speed endurance end of the race was almost completely spared.
That 9.92 effort, if for no other reason, will clearly have him entering the finals the most psychologically prepared, relative to Powell and Gay, due to the fact that his relaxed/sub-max efforts are producing the fastest times- by a large margin.
Dude, Gay has got no chance, based on what I have seen so far. Thomson absolutely destroyed all the hopes Gay ever had of winning a medal. Based on the performances so fat, Bolt, Powell, Thomson, and Atkins. Plus Burns, Collins, Edgar, and maybe, just maybe Gay squeezes in 
Wow, predictions huh! Faith/Hope is not a good thing
Bolt is certainly capable of running a WR. How fast? Who knows? Maybe 9.66? What I would like to contemplate is how fast is he going to run in the 200m if he gets into mid 9.6 range?
He is going to produce at least second fastest time ever in the 200m, that’s for sure.
Damn your funny, so why not send everyone home and give bolt the gold medal - this is why they play the game… I said it from day 1, gay will win the gold medal and i am sticking to it; unlike some people. They dont give medals in prelims, too bad to all the bolt fans… Gay is running the perfect rounds, running fast enough to just make it to the next round - nothing more nothing less. Sit back and watch one of the greatest ball out of control.
OK Gay is going to win
Gay is running the perfect rounds,
Far, too far from it. Imagine how he must have been feeling last night? He has not slept well I reckon. He must have been analysing all the mistakes he made during the last night. Hell, even JD must have been singing lullabies to put him asleep. The world must have been collapsing around him right now, during his breakfast, while Bolt and Powell have been awakening just about in 3, 2, 1…now. Good morning boys
At any rate, I think we’d all agree that the most high caliber 100m Olympic final, with the greatest likelihood of producing a sub 9.7, that will likely require a sub 9.8 just to medal, is upon us.
The Jam crew were probably crying about all the blood test, bunch of babies.
I agree and this is why i said > Sit back and watch one of the greatest ball out of control.
The Jam crew were probably crying about all the blood test, bunch of babies.
But they slept well
Just watched Bolt’s heat again several times. Based on the ease he had in the “easiest” sub 10 I’ve ever seen, I pick him to win the final in 9.70. He’d be faster if it were held later in the day.
Yah, I haven’t seen such ease since Asafa Powell ran 9.74.
Would not Gay like to run like that some day ?
I wonder if part of how Bolt looks to be running is simply because he is so big and its the perception of big lever versus small lever so he will always appear to be cruising.
A similar example being ex West Indian cricketer Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner who always looked to be running and bowling at a slow pace but this was due to him being (according to cricinfo) 6’ 8"’'tall.
Funny you bought this up because I was thinking the samething.
Exactly!!!
The difference is that we have seen Bolt run enough very fast 100m to compare him to himself and the 9.92 looks (I’ll exaggerate for effect) more like intensive tempo in comparison to his 9.72.
So regardless of what he might be capable of tomorrow and ignoring his unusually long levers for a 100m runner, I think we have enough data to conclude in more certain terms that this 9.92 was no where near a maximal effort.
The final is at 10:30 at night. How much later would you like it?
I agree he is not at max. But at 95 percentage or higher. Do the math if you don’t believe me. This being said, he wasn’t looking over his shoulder naturally, but more frantically, showing that he was running hard enough not to gaze for too long. He was making sure no one came up on him.
With a +.1 wind, regardless of the amount of season bests, or PB’s, bolt will not break the record. Remember on paper Asafa is the fastest man ever to live. To me he is. He is ready to go. Its going to be a close final.
With a wind of 1.5 or higher there may be a new record. But if the wind is +.1 there WILL NOT be a new record. Remember it was Powell who won the last meeting with Bolt. And this fact is more important than Bolt running 9.72 with a huge wind on a super fast track.
Bolt is scared of Asafa… whether he is in good shape or not.
Trust me on this.
-Guy
sorry I wasn’t necessarily meaning he isn’t running sub max, I agree he should go a whole heap quicker than he has so far at Beijing.
Dr Sprint, scared or wary of Asafa (and Gay)? Only a fool would not be conscious of the quality of others in the field esp from here on.
I’ve been looking and looking at the SF start lists on the IAAF website trying to figure the final.
Frankly, I only feel confident of 2 and the rest seems like a crapshoot.
The two are Bolt and Asafa, so you see I’m not confident of any Americans being in the final.
I base that only on the historical habits of Americans in rounds to try to get to the front to “make a statement” (About what I have no idea).
Tyson is one who might be under instructions from Drummond to do the absolute minimum he can get away with, though Ato’s observation that Tyson was wearing a wrap in the first round is disturbing. Did anyone see if he had it in round two?
And what about the other two?
That said, I’m not much for guessing cause in the old days, I was used to KNOWING what my people could do.