by Larry EderUsain Bolt will run both the 100 meters and the 200 meters in Beijing, as announced by his coach Glen Mills. Bolt, as we all know, set the world record on May 31 in New York City at the Reebok GP with his astounding 9.72. I use the term astounding because I thought the Mr. Bolt ran a good race, but it was obvious that Mr. Bolt could run faster. In July, Mr. Bolt ran a 19.67 for 200 meters, which is probably his best event.
Well, with Tyson Gay’s injury in the 200 meter heats at the US Olympic Trials, Mr. Bolt is the odds on favorite in the 200 meters. His victory at 100 meters is not so obvious, as Asafa Powell is in shape, running 9.82 for 100 meters in his last race, Tyson Gay is said to be rounding into shape, plus Darvis Patton and Derrick Adkins, in my mind is not to be underestimated as both of these guys are championship runners.
Beijing is less than two weeks away from the start of the Olympic track & field, the ten days of the real Olympics, but I will be prognosticating about that later….
EME NEWS (AUG 2, 2008) FLASH 2
Bolt to double
KINGSTON (JAM): Coach Glen Mills today announced that the worlds fastest sprinter Jamaican Usain Bolt will double at Olympic Games in Beijing. It was expected, but not confirmed so far. The Jamaican is now a gold medal favorite for both sprints and also for relay with team-mates like Powell, Frater and Anderson. Last time the 100/200 m double at Olympic was crowned with two golds was 1984 by Carl Lewis and other seven times before (Hahn, Craig, P. Williams, Tolan, Owens, Morrow, Borzov).
The “Lightning Bolt” competed this season in eight 100 m races and five 200 m races including qualifiying heats at Jamaican National Championships. He clocked five-times sub 10 and four-times sub 20. He won all of them except the DN Galan in Stockholm where he lost to Asafa Powell by 0.01 at 100 m. The smallest winning margin in his 200 m races was 0.2 at Jamaican Nationals. On last May day he clocked the world record 9.72 in New York. In the combination of 100/200 m times he is equal best ever (9.72/19.67 = 29.39) with Tyson Gay (9.77/19.62). But Gay competes only at 100 m in Beijing. Legendary Michael Johnson has 29.41 (10.09/19.32).
Used with permission of Alfons Juck, publisher of EME News.
