Men's 100m - Gay ails, Carter mails, Powell bails, Bolt fails, Blake hails, Lemaitre trails, Dix sails, Collins nails
There were a couple of interesting things about this 100m competition, but probably not what you're thinking:
1) Carter mailing it in, in the final. Questions abound.
2) Gerald Phiri completely flaming in 10.60 (-0.7) in heat 6--what the heck was that?
3) Ndure and Frater flaming in the semi's, after having consistently better circuit results, especially Frater
4) Chambers not starting the final, he may well have medalled
5) of course, the false-start rule needs to be thrown out
6) of six (6!) Jamaicans at the top of the standings this year, only one (1!) finished the final
7) Dix cannot rely on "running guys down" when in any race with a good finisher
8) Lemaitre is too consistent (corrected times of 10.08, 10.05, and 10.10) to win anything yet
9) all the times except Blake's are instantly credible times, with silver and bronze in 9.99 and 10.00 corrected
8) this year, honesty beat drugs HANDS DOWN.
I called many of these things, including Dix medalling, Lemaitre not medalling, Collins' resurrection, Blake winning, etc., but it is what I didn't mention that is the most important thing about this 100m race: it was a triumph of honest, almost amateur effort over cheating, showboating, and commercialism.
Look at the big guns on the tour this year--Powell, Frater, Carter, Bolt, Mullings--all totally flamed. The one-hit-wonders Thompson, Bledman, Makusha, were not factors, and timing at various lesser meets both in the US and around the world must now be in serious question.
It was the journeymen--either guys who didn't run much, who stayed close to home, who kept working hard and honestly, guys with a real work ethic and not just after the fame and dollars--who carried the day.
Compare those who flamed to the following list of guys:
Dix--ran only a couple of meets this year, relatively obscure, ran a low-key Canadian meet series, runs the same race he always runs, for an excellent silver
Collins--the most hardworking and honest of all, at age 35, almost gets silver, running the same race race he has always run
Lemaitre--trained hard, stayed close to home, ran an excellent series of races, and will be a major threat in any clean championships in the future
Chambers--not allowed to even run anywhere this year, has worked very hard for a couple of years in relative obscurity under trying circumstances, would have been in the final and might have actually medalled if he hadn't been DQ'd
Vicaut--totally amateurish profile, bronze last year at world juniors, hard worker not really on the radar, runs not to make money but to win, makes the final and comes 6th, beating out heavy-hitters like Carter, Frater, Bledman, Makusha, Thompson, etc.
Bailey--under the radar this year, but is a journeyman who always seems to do well through hard work rather than talent
Right on. Excellent race series except for the false starts. Surprising to me was that Gatlin, Ndure, Frater, and Thompson didn't do better...explanations? Speculative reasons? Frater--cheating. Thompson--inconsistent, maybe faulty timing at home. Gatlin--frostbite. Ndure--bum and stoner.
Even though I took serious notice of Blake already last year, and had him for the win in the absence of Powell, his performance doesn't sit well with me...that is a 9.83 corrected, which is a hypothetical 9.74 with a max allowable +2.0 wind, which stretches credibility, and I'm waiting for him to go down at some point, along with Carter and others.
Blake's run was, as I have said before, pretty much like a Tyson Gay race--same lame start, but blazing turnover with excellent range combining for a super time with an untouchable finish.
Would Bolt have beat him? Anybody's guess. The way Bolt was running, he looked good. Blake was 9.83 corrected...was Bolt capable of that this year? Judging by his circuit performances, no. Judging by his heat and semi, yes. No use speculating, it would have been that close--even Bolt knew it would be that close, which is why he jumped the gun (assuming he didn't throw the race).
Too bad, with a good win here he could have done wonders for his image in the minds of those who think he used to dope.
He looked really good to me in this meet, like his old self--what the heck? How did he transform so quickly? It looked like he lost weight, all of a sudden he had "pop" again, all of a sudden he had a sinewy start, what the heck? Strange. If this was an honest transformation, it tells us that he has basically been a bum for the entire year, and just worked himself into shape within the last month.
Finally, the false-start rule. We have all been back-and-forth on this here on the board, and I have expressed the opinion that it is crap. Some of you think it is good.
I leave you with one question: why were any free false starts ever allowed in the first place?
In the end, Blake deserved to win, he was in a class by himself in the final. He must be placed squarely among the big 4 now even though he hasn't yet gone 9.7x, especially as he is improving yearly--Bolt, Gay, Powell, and now Blake.
It will be interesting to see who runs the Jamaican relay, and to see how they run. Chances are we'll see something close to the WR, with a blazing first 100m by Carter, a huge second leg from Blake, a killer turn from Bolt, and a devastating finish from Powell. Either that, or they won't even finish.