Let me take you back to 1987. I was in Rome at the track and field World Championships, covering the event for Gannett News Service. A great assignment. No question. Great event, and a great venue. Rome and Italy? Can’t beat it.
Anyway, Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis were the great rivals, back then, in the 100-meter dash, and the atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium in Rome was electric even before the two of them got into the starting blocks.
I was sitting next to a journalist who is a track and field maniac. Loves the sport. Loves it. Covered it for years with the utmost dedication. And I remember him being edgy, almost twitchy as the 100-meter final came up.
Off went the sprinters, and Ben Johnson blew away Carl Lewis, tearing a full .10 seconds off the world record for the event, running a 9.83. Shattering Calvin Smith’s record of 9.93 seconds.
I will never forget the reaction of the reporter next to me. The track wonk. He leaped into the air and shouted “nine-eight-three! Nine-eight-three!” And then he stole a look at the wind gauge and shouted, “And it’s legal! It’s legal!”
Well, it wasn’t. And our first clue should have been the huge chunk of time Ben Johnson took off the record.
Which brings us to Usain Bolt breaking his own world record today by, yes, .11 seconds.
I wouldn’t mind believing Usain Bolt is the greatest sprinter in the history of the planet.
I just can’t believe he is.
In all the timed sports, the biggest red flag that performance enhancing drugs are being used is when someone trashes a difficult record. Say, the 100-meter dash.
This is mark that ought to come down by the slightest of fractions. A 100th of a second maybe every couple of years. If conditions are perfect, and there is a following wind just under the legal limit, maybe a couple of 100ths.
Not the .10 Johnson tore off the record in 1987, and not the .11 Bolt ripped off it today.
The other red flag for PEDs? A huge and fast progression in an event.
If someone is significantly better than a year ago … well, it’s time to check your enthusiasm at the door and wait for the drug tests to come to roost.
I was in the stadium when Bolt won gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, setting a record of 9.69 seconds. You remember that one, right? The race where Bolt celebrated the last 20 meters and still won without a challenge. This from a runner who had trouble breaking 10 seconds a year before.
After that race, no less than Carl Lewis — who was suggesting 20 years ago that Ben Johnson wasn’t breaking records just by eating Wheaties — told SI.com that, “I’m still working with the fact that (Bolt) dropped from 10-flat to 9.6 in one year. … If you don’t question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you’re a fool.”
Lewis would know. Ben Johnson beat him again, at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, this time in another world record (9.79) … and then was busted for steroids a few days later, one of the biggest scandals in Olympic history. Johnson was stripped of his gold, sent home in disgrace and had both of his record runs nullified. Including the 9.83 in Rome that my colleague went nuts over.
Right now, track enthusiasts, innocent as babes, many of them, so much want to believe they are watching something both sensational and natural. And generally their arguments revolve around how Bolt is an anomaly because of his height, etc., etc.
History has shown us that we cannot share that enthusiasm. We need to see Bolt continue to run at something approximating 9.60 for a number of years and after a batch of tests come back clean. Not just Beijing’s test, not just today’s test, every test for a couple of years.
Maybe then I will believe Usain Bolt ran a legit 9.69 and then destroyed that with a 9.58 a year later.
Maybe. But probably not.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Sleng Teng // Aug 16, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Bolt has been an insane athlete from a teenager. He ran 47.33 in the 400m and 21.12 and in 2001. Fast forward eight years later and what do you get.? For God sakes do your home work before posting. The man was the man ever since he was a boy. We are in the information age. Please do some reading
2 j100 // Aug 16, 2009 at 3:19 PM
probly u just heard about bolt where were you when he was running from a child check to see how many junior records he still has oh hell yes!!!!! yes he has broken that record and will continue to set more. He is a jamaican No way he takes drugs oh yea!!!!!
3 Brian N. // Aug 16, 2009 at 4:13 PM
I agree with you 100%. I have been watching track and field very closely for the last 20 years and I have never seen an athlete improve so much so fast that was clean. 2 years ago at the Worlds in Osaka, Tyson Gay EASILY beat Bolt in the 200m final. I’m guessing that Bolt will destroy Gay in the 200m as well, this year, even though Gay is running a lot faster now. From ’07 to ’08, Bolt went from being totally beatable in the 200m, to being so unbeatable that no one can even come within’ a half second of him. In ’07, he could barely beat Wallace Spearmon. Now, he’s a threat to annihilate every world record there is, every time he steps on the track. If he still hasnt failed a drug test 5 years from now, I’ll buy that he’s clean, until then, I’m also an unbeliever.
4 Fletch Lives // Aug 17, 2009 at 4:20 AM
I agree. I hate that it has come to this. But, “the impossible” in feats of physical strength, quickness, or speed are no longer credible. I used to sprint, but never on this level. However, I know that reducing one’s time by as much as .5 seconds over a career is unlikely, let alone as much as Bolt has in the span of a short 2 years.
If he is clean, he is indeed a freak. I just remember Flo Jo laughing crossing the line at the Oympics as well. I remember Marion Jones smiling crossing the line. And, I remember Michael Johnson smashing the field. I don’t believe in any of them. And, right now, I don’t believe this.
5 Dennis Pope // Aug 17, 2009 at 1:35 PM
I think it’s funny that Slang Tang is asking you to do some reading. Like anyone can trust what they read ABOVE what they can see with their own eyes. Usain Bolt is cheating. It’s only a matter of time before we find out with what.
6 Stacy // Aug 17, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Tyson Gay thinks Bolt’s time is possible and he intends to match or beat in the not too distant future. Are you going to be saying “drugs” when Tyson Gay runs 9.69? You naysayers are like the proverbial witch killers of a century ago who determine what’s possible based on the limitaions of the past and would rather “kill” the latest feat and present every past failure as to why the feat is impossible than entertain the possibilities. How fast can a 6′ 5″ man who has mastered the physics of the sprint run? The truth is we’ve never seen a 6′ 5″ sprinter compete at 100 meters, much less deliberately readjust the bio-physiological physics of his run to become a master. His coach taught him to adjust significant components of his stride with massive results. In physics minor adjustments in the parameters of kinematics or any dynamic system produce enormous results. Think about it… how fast can a 6′ 5″ guy who is mastering the physics of the sprint from a place of incredible talent run? Frankly, Mr. Bolt ran this WWR time or close to it last year, except he slowed before the line was crossed. Your unbelief has nothing to do with the facts surrounding doping, your unbelief stems from the emotionalism surrounding doping and the relief that your cynism gives to you. History shows that the witch burners will believe what they want no matter what facts are presented as the author has said …
“Maybe then I will believe Usain Bolt ran a legit 9.69 and then destroyed that with a 9.58 a year later.
Maybe. But probably not.”
For some bizarre reason this is what he and some others posting here NEED to believe in spite of some hypothetical passing by Bolt of some hypothetical test beyond the pale of reasonableness.
BTW … I most definitely believe that Bolt is clean along with some of the best analytical physicists and orthopeadic physicians who have weighed in on Bolts abilities since Beijing. Furthermore he ran close to what he would have run last year (decent NOT phenomenal improvement), and not quite as low as I think he is capable of which I think will be at the limit of speed for someone of his height and physicality, somewhere in the 9.4s. I also believe that we are close to seeing the limits of speed for a sprint master in the 5’10 – 6’0 range which I believe for Tyson Gaye, as incredible a sprinter as Bolt if not better, is 9.65 – 9.68. Why do I believe this? because i’ve put the physics to paper and it computes.
7 Brian N. // Aug 20, 2009 at 4:31 PM
I hear that Bolt is so fast because he’s a “freak of nature”. He was still a freak of nature in ’07 when he showed ZERO signs of being capable of running 9.5’s and 19.1’s. Its not that he’s winning, its how he’s winning and crushing WR’s despite being injured twice earlier this year. What’s a trait of PED’s? Fast recovery from injury. As far as Tyson Gay goes, I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he was dirty too. This is track and field after all, don’t act like its un-heard-of for an athlete to be dirty. That’s just naive. I had these same arguments about Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and the same thing can be said here, the evidence is in the numbers. Bolt has run 2 tenths faster than admitted steroid users.
8 Tom // Sep 29, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Under Stacy’s theory of physics, Bolt runs fast times because he is 6’5″. The other sprinters are smaller. There are a lot of 6’5″ people around who don’t run those times. In addition, Stacy’s theory fails when you consider taller people don’t run the 100m dash faster. Is Yao Ming, 7’6″, going to run a 9.1sec 100m? He’s taller than Usain Bolt by 1 foot. I doubt Yao or any of the other Basketball players 7′ and taller are going to run 9.0 in 100m. Face it, Bolt it taking performance enhancers. If the people on steroids can’t run that time, how does Bolt do it naturally? It’s like saying all the bodybuilders are on steroids except Arnold. Yet, Arnold is the best bodybuilder.
9 John // Oct 20, 2010 at 3:16 PM
There is absolutely no doubt in My mind that Usain Bolt is taking performance enhancing drugs. For starters the times that he is running are humanly impossible. There are also no random drug testing in Jamacia. So athletes take what they want when they want. They know when they are going to be tested. There are ways of masking drugs. The money to me earned is massive. Greater than it has ever been. Tyson Gay is also taking drugs. So is Asafa Powell. All this talk about being 6 feet five inches is complete nonsense. Any one who believes that these times are legitimate are kidding themselves and have alot to learn. The whole thing is a complete farce. And these guys are laughing all the way to the bank. Being allowed to keep their medals, records and money is a disgrace to the world of sport. Just because they are not TESTING POSITIVE does not mean they are clean. Breaking the world 100 metre record By over a metre is not possible at this level. I really doubt that any athlete who has run under 9.95 odd has been clean. What is the real world record for the 100 meters. Who knows. Perhaps Jim Hines in the Mexico Olympics in 1968, with a time of 9.95. Dwain Chamber’s the Disgraced British Athlete looks like a prized Bull at a mart pumped up with Clenbuterol.!! He was stuffed full of all sorts of Drugs. His personal best I believe is 9.97. With drugs. Linford Christie 9.87 drugs cheat. Tim montgomerie. Justin Gatlin. Dennis Mitchel. Micheal Johnson. Leroy Burell. Carl lewis. Maurice Greene. Marion Jones. Donavon Bailey. Florence Griffith Joyner. All drug cheat to name but a few. Even though some of the above have never tested positive their times show that they are resorting to performance enhancing drugs. All in the name of MONEY $$$$$$. Mega $$$$. They take the chance for the massive money on offer and large sponsorship deals. Some get away with it some don’t.
10 Strycnine // May 23, 2011 at 8:06 PM
Maion Jones never tested positive for PED and she looked like the female version of Usain Bolt. There are no such things as clean athletes anymore. Just look at Lance Armstrong… I’m willing to bet that Usain Bolt is on something…
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