Anyone wondering what time Usain Bolt may have achieved if he had not jogged the last ten metres at Beijing got an answer yesterday (Sunday 16th August 2009) when he smashed his own 100m record by 11/100ths. The 6 foot 5 inch Jamaican left the competition in his wake, no easy feat considering Tyson Gay and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell were contenders, with a breath taking time of 9.58 seconds.
The 22 year old said he felt confident after the semi finals and felt good in himself after he smashed his own record over 100m. Tyson Gay who took the silver medal clocked an impressive time of 9.71 seconds, an American national record, yet was still a couple of metres behind Bolt at the finish line. Gay told reporters he was pleased with the national record and was happy for Bolt.
Bolt oozed the showmanship and confidence he sported at Beijing and is fast becoming a household name across the world by cementing his place as the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen. The 6 for 5 Jamaican has mastered the long stride compounded with the rapid turnover rate usually witnessed by shorter and lighter sprinters.
What’s next for Bolt? As Bolt rewrites the record books again we can only imagine what time he could achieve as the 22 year old improves technically. Bolt has claimed he can get into the 9.4s, which would be a monstrous achievement and possibly a time which would stay in the record books for a very long time (unless Bolt puts on his spikes again). Various coaches have analyzed the performance at Berlin and believe Bolt can still shave even more time off his record. Most the comments seem to be regarding the transition phrase from when Bolt leaves the blocks to when he is running fully upright. Some experts state he rises out of this phrase too early and can improve even more for the first 20 to 30 meters of the race.
Full coverage of the Berlin World Championship at the Olympic Stadium was on BBC2. The article on the BBC website has coverage of the race as well as an interview with Bolt.
