Athletics in General > Reviews (18)

*Usain Bolt – The current World Record Holder 100 metres*

Men's 100m result

1 Usain Bolt JAM 9.58 (WR)
2 Tyson Gay USA 9.71 (NR)
3 Asafa Powell JAM 9.84 (SB)

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USAin Bolt?

Over the last month we’ve been overly spoon-fed what the Doctor’s involvement was to do with Michael Jackson’s departure. This ultimately beams the magnitude of how the West has depended on drugs. Drug taking; whether prescribed or otherwise, is available for the rich and famous, and most definitely to the super-human whose sport makes it their livelihood to give their very best while on the world stage. This last week I’ve been stunned at witnessing the fastest man in history Usain Bolt’s 100 metre performance at the World Championships. His time of 9.58 secs without the show-boating and banging on the chest before reaching the line, proves that he is untouchable when it comes to sheer power, and pure supremacy at that show stopper 100 metre dash; which commentators all agree as being the most exciting part of watching athletics. It may only take 10 seconds but in this case it is an amazing thing to be as quick as you can humanly be; so considering Bolt’s remarkable feats, I’m pre-empting that an investigation will be made on Bolt’s history making; especially as he was a competent 200 metre runner who came second in the World Championships in 2007; the meteoric rise has been vast and I fear his new found super-human stardom may be short-lived. It is part of human nature to review the means in which he performed by and to what level he has induced his body to, to come-up with considering what he has achieved. – I’m not saying he is taking any illegal substances but what I am siding with is that in reality all remarkableness is under scrutiny, from the initial media euphoria to the damning slander that has marred so many sportsmen careers.

Usain is the new boy on the block; media storms are rising in the East. I’ve watched Usain’s World Record sprints with absolute awe. - He is the ultimate being that looks completely untouchable at present. I’m one of the 1,950,000 hits on YouTube, well, actually its more like 10 to put it into perspective. The stride pattern changes when he reaches 45 metres; it is smoother and it is as if the first 20 metres is labouring almost, but thereafter the Ferrari booster then kicks in. By the time 80 metres advance there is a slight relax-ness that suggests this Jamaican has more in the tank. I’m not surprised there has been a huge rush to acclaim Usain Bolt as the most astonishing sportsman who has ever set foot on this earth – greater than Tiger Woods and Roger Federer; commentators and sports writers are claiming.

Is it a bird, a plane… No it’s Usain!

Let us hold back the plaudits for a few seconds here. Greatness has occurred and I’m one of Bolt’s biggest admirers; I can even stomach his daft pointed arrow trade-mark stance; which he seems to do at every time a TV camera is within 20 yards, I’m not sure that is an OCD condition that can be brought on by excessive caffeine addiction or not.

I’m fully aware that sportsmen carry trade-marks like how a WAG would wear Prada, so not all are chemically enhanced. - Unless its bottox and silicon of course, I was talking about the WAG. – The whole idea of cavorting down this euphoric blind alley is not helpful to an obviously very gifted man, it doesn’t serve us well at all in the longer term; especially regarding the enormity of the occasion. – Usain is only 23 years of age and still has some muscle development left via age wise; that will possibly make bigger feats even more enduring. Then again the hype could take over and the burn-out claims could become sadly become too evident. The enhancement drug abusers are always one step away, especially as the world record breaking feats line up, looking like a typo error in the cold light of day.

The scary demise of past record breaking 100M heroes makes for a seriously sad sound-bite. Few have gone through without being unscathed that is true, but the huge temptations whether it is for injury recovery or mindless stupidity the ultimate goal is for total immortality. Continuing breaking records, pushing their highly tuned body to the limits, to keep that euphoric status that completely consumes them. – The writers and commentators have short memories and they write for today and only that. – but you don’t have to look too hard to see that the ultimate prize carries a price, and it starts with an urine sample, maybe a tampered test or a misunderstanding, for the ‘house of cards’ to fall around and then yesterday’s hero is forgotten; as quickly as running the 100 meters. The stardom is a faded dormant memory. This must be always at the back of Usain’s mind when stepping up to the blocks waiting for that gun-shot, maybe just for a mini second, but it is there if he knows his sport; the 100 meters is the most cursed lineage in illegal substance abuse. The faster you run the quicker you hit the line, going by historian lineage of the literacy kind.

Bolt out of the Blue

In the pharmacy locker rooms, big names ring out, such as, Ben Johnson the Canadian who brought his whole nation into disrepute in Seoul 1988. His illegal record stood for three days at 9.79 seconds – All high on drugs and anabolic steroid induced, Johnson, the muscles from Canada was inflated illegally. In some ways I thought it actually hindered him in running as he drifted dangerously close to the next lane; while trying to extract power from the starting blocks, the world record was smashed and just like Bolt received ultra stardom, all for it to turn into a nightmare. The shock horror stories that through the whole event into disarray that followed, would have crushed any super-human’s ego and career credibility. At the same time it was Carl Lewis who stepped for the and tried to clean-up the image of his beloved sport, and even him later their was an investigation into his own credibility due to his remarkably long career that involved him in ‘4’ Olympic events in 3 Olympics for nearly 16 years; Lewis exclusively claimed after his own retirement that he himself had failed dope tests, well random dope ones and they had been concealed to the public; making all his achievements void, even though they do stand on record due to it being legitimate at the time of the event.

It seems you cannot re-write history when history is locked in a time vault, along with failed drug tests.

The string of names continues, as Justin Gatlin was apparently using an abusive substance that took his world record away without passing go and collecting 200 pounds. It was brief, so brief I’m uncertain whether even YouTube would have it, maybe worth a viewing. The 100M doesn’t fill me up with hope of true sportsmanship, integrity, nor clean living. – Abuse is part of recognizing that dream, even to make the dream a reality the pressures of making it happen is vast. I tend to think the athletes generally are so focused that they’re blinded by trust for their coaches; and it beggars belief what their own trainers and coaches induce to them. The seriousness always drops down to the actual abuser and never the trainer. The trainer walks away with all their credibility intact as the slip of into the shadows as the inevitable storm descends. – Our very own ‘lunchbox’ favorite Linford Christie was under great investigation that actually did blight his career, even though he was cleared of any wrong doing and apart from the anaerobic ‘eye bulging’ running style that had a surreal visual quality to the average man in the street; nothing was amiss. By being captain of the Men’s UK team he was the cornerstone of integrity and publicly deplored any illegal substance abuse very strongly. It now looks as if we may view him on TV again, entering the entertainment arena in a sequined outfit with the forever young Bruce Forsythe in the next comings of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. The only testing being done would be held up by the ‘4’ judges.

– USA formidable women athlete Florence Griffith-Joyner (1959 – 1998) died of a heart seizure due to excessive drug abuse that wrecked her obsessive body at a relatively young age. Again, the enormity of her incredible career was bigger than the sport itself, as cover-ups and smoke-screens were systematically in-place for her subsequent substance abuse to continue through-out all her mockery accolades.

Bolt followed by a clap

The grey clouds that don’t seem that far away to shed darkness on the sport; what should be about ultimate will and pure natural ‘real time’ performance is key whereby only yourself is to blame on performance. It appears the hidden truth of total fraud is also part of the fiasco. Usain Bolt’s performance is an incredible feat that I hope stands firm with the entire drug allegations that fly around athletes at regular intervals. Going by the hero’s of the past which walked the walk and then fall at a hurdle, hopefully honest greatness shines through, when it comes to the real deal. – When it comes to being wise the sportsmen themselves lacks intelligence when drug abuse rears the ugly head with the white powdered Kerry Katona nose. 100M sprinters aren’t known for their intelligence. Seb Coe who was Great Britains 1500 Metre and 3000 Metre runner, is the only known averagely intelligent man who has since gone on and been a good ambassador to Great British Track and field sports.

Of course spear-heading Team GB in winning the bid to hold the 2012 Olympics in London against a not so strong Paris bid. – Coe still is that man with integrity. The fact that Usain Bolt has that likeability, the future is bright for the bolt of lightening that hopefully won’t fade for Usain. – What is so noticeable at the World Championships is the masses that he alone draws in to view his performance. The pressures must be insurmountable for a young man. ‘5’ investigations have already followed other fellow Jamaican athletes this last week, am I a cynic in thinking is this just another smoke-screen, that athletes appear to put their own career in question for the sake of their own home-land. If this is the case, there is a much bigger picture immerging which is currently underground, truth is stranger than fiction.

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