Leave Usain Bolt Alone!!!

If you've been paying any attention to the events over at the China Invitational, you are likely aware of the record-breaking performance of Jamaica's Usain Bolt. In winning the 100m final in a new world record time of 9.69 (!!!), breaking the previous record of 9.72 held by Jamaica's Usain Bolt, Bolt coasted the final 20 meters with arms wide open (he's a huge Creed fan), letting down hundreds of purists and d-bags alike. Many thought he could have run sub 9.6, and some thought that his showboating was showing up his competitors and making a mockery of these Olympics that are being held in an industrial wasteland. A few believe that if Bolt would have sprinted all-out through the finish line, he may have been able to achieve flight. To those people I cry....leave Usain Bolt alone!!!

Here is one such example of anti-Bolt "journalism". I put journalism in quotes because apparently, this guy is arguing that Bolt somehow corrupted the youth of Great Britain with his celebrating. Written by a guy who goes by "The Guardian", the article begins by detailing how Bolt's celebrating was a slap in the face to "us idealists", and insinuates that Bolt could have run a 9.50 had he ran the final like a God damn Olympic champion from Britain and not like a showboating young spoiled athlete. The Guardian then goes through and details all of the former and current British medalists he has met and how humbled and championlike they are and how much they smell like championships and how they gave him tingles in his championbones. To which I reply, after having my neighbor viciously slash me across my face with a rake and with tears streaming down from my eyes, leave Usain Bolt alone!!!

The first argument is opinion, and while it may be retarded opinion (even in the year You Killed Your Kid), it is still opinion nonetheless and cannot be challenged with facts. But...come on, The Guardian! Making a mockery of the sport of track and field? Isn't that a bit extreme? First off, the sprints have had plenty of flashy stars in the past. Michael Johnson was a showman. Donovan Bailey was a showman as far as I can remember. If you just ran faster than any other man on the planet, I think you'd be pretty damn pumped up. I know I would...I'd be the first person to win the Olympic 100m final and immediately whip it out as I crossed the finish line. Second, Bolt wasn't going for the world record that he already owned. He had one thing on his mind, and that was gold. He looked around for his fellow countryman Asafa Powell, who was supposed to challenge him in this race, and realized how far from the pack that he had distanced himself. And then he probably thought, hey, I'm about to win an Olympic gold medal, and he lightly touched his chest and put his arms out. I would be willing to bet an entire year's salary of the Chinese kid that sewed his shoes together that he was just excited about winning the race. The Guardian makes the following argument that both Peter King and I believe to be horsefeathers:

He could have been remembered as the man who ran 9.50 in an Olympic 100m final but instead he'll be remembered as the man who slapped his chest as he crossed the line and that is not in any way as powerful a legacy.

I would bet just the opposite, that the image of Bolt crossing the finish mid-coast will probably be one of the enduring images from these Games, especially for the track events. No matter what he would have run had he held his form through the line, someone is likely to come along and break his record. Does anyone outside of Toronto have strong memories of Donovan Bailey's 9.84 in Atlanta? Probably not as many as those that will remember Bolt's race in 12 years. Plus, the guy is 21. He'll be back. And so I cry, in a high-pitched whine that attracts the attention of the pitbulls that I am brutally fighting in my backyard ring-of-death in the midst of this tropical storm, leave Usain Bolt alone!!!

As to the 9.50, well, luckily, we have actual information to use here. Thanks to the always on top of his game Bobby Pentagonz from the Sportsfrog, who came across this website that breaks down Bolt's race over 10 meter increments, containing the following graph:

You can see where Bolt begins to slow in the final 20 meters, slowing from his 43.9 km/hr (~27.45 mph) max speed to his finish speed at 40 km/hr (~25 mph), or still enough to get some points on his license had he been running through a school zone. The author, Ross Tucker, says:

Remember, a sprinter typically hits peak somewhere between 50 and 60m, but then slows progressively. Bolt's huge victory was created thanks to his incredible 50m stint between 40m and 90m, where he never dropped below 42km/hour.

How much faster can he run?

That is the question flying around today. What if Bolt had not celebrated from 20m out? Could he have run 9.50 seconds? Thompson, who took silver, said he'd run 9.54 seconds. The data above suggest that this is probably a little too optimistic. Even if he had maintained his speed for the final 20m (which is unlikely - he'd probably have dropped off slightly), he would have run 0.09 seconds faster. This would give him a 9.60 second time, which is incredible. More likely, he'd have slowed anyway (as all sprinters do), so I'd guess that his celebrations probably denied him about 0.05s and a time of 9.64s.

And while I would like to see actual data to back up his "all sprinters lose speed at the final" statement, as Bolt is obviously not your typical sprinter, I will take his word for it. Of course, the fact remains that the data does not support the claims of a 9.50. Bolt did not lose nearly as much speed as most people, including myself, tended to think. And, most importantly, I don't think Bolt is losing any sleep over this. It would have been his record, not ours. And so I sit here in a dark corner of my room, my eyes red and my body covered in blood as I goad Ray Lewis to continually stab me in the chest, urging everybody who will listen to please leave Usain Bolt alone!!!

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[August]

The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride f*cking with you. F*ck pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps.
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