Gavin Chipper wrote:Do you mean four 25.5 splits by the way? That would give 102 seconds or 1:42.
Yeah, well spotted. It was right in my head when I posted it: 82 seconds = 1 minute 42. Maybe I'd moved to the forty second minute.
Ain't it just? I've been going through loads of my old papers and shit from when I first moved into my house (1998) and found a load of printouts from that very site. For amusement, this was top of the men's all-time 100m list at that time:
1. Donovan Bailey ... 9.84 seconds
2. Leroy Burrell ... 9.85 seconds
3. Carl Lewis ... 9.86 seconds
4. Frankie Fredericks ... 9.86 seconds
5. Linford Christie ... 9.87 seconds
6. Frankie Fredericks ... 9.87 seconds
7. Leroy Burrell ... 9.88 seconds
8. Frankie Fredericks ... 9.89 seconds
9. Ato Boldon ... 9.89 seconds
And maybe this wasn't your reason for bringing this up, but do you think this is suspicious? Is there any reason why improvements in training, diet etc. since this time should have come on so much more for the 100m than for longer distances? And it's not just Usain Bolt. Several runners have gone under 9.84 seconds. Looking at our
favourite site, 9.84 seconds has been beaten 62 times. Is there any other event where the world record from that time is now so low on the all-time list? It was the world record until 1999 when Maurice Greene beat it with 9.79 seconds (the same time as Ben Johnson).
Also, when Michael Johnson set the 200m world record of 19.32s in 1996, it was arguably the best track record on the books. It's now not only been beaten by Usain Bolt, but also by Yohann Blake. Yohann Blake is a good runner obviously - but 19.26 for 200m?
I actually posted it because it was peculiarly nostalgic, but if you want to go into it further, I'm game.
Of that list, I would view Frankie Fredericks with the least suspicion, but I would never say categorically that he wasn't cheating. Of the others, I'm fairly sure they were all cheating.
And since then?
1 9.58 +0.9 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Berlin 16.08.2009
2 9.63 +1.5 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 London 05.08.2012
3 9.69 ±0.0 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Beijing 16.08.2008
3 9.69 +2.0 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 1 Shanghai 20.09.2009
3 9.69 -0.1 Yohan Blake JAM 26.12.89 1 Lausanne 23.08.2012
6 9.71 +0.9 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 2 Berlin 16.08.2009
7 9.72 +1.7 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1rA New York City 31.05.2008
7 9.72 +0.2 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1rA Lausanne 02.09.2008
9 9.74 +1.7 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1h2 Rieti 09.09.2007
9 9.74 +0.9 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1 Ad-Dawhah 15.05.2015
11 9.75 +1.1 Yohan Blake JAM 26.12.89 1 Kingston 29.06.2012
11 9.75 +1.5 Yohan Blake JAM 26.12.89 2 London 05.08.2012
11 9.75 +0.9 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1rA Roma 04.06.2015
11 9.75 +1.4 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1rA Lausanne 09.07.2015
15 9.76 +1.8 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Kingston 03.05.2008
15 9.76 +1.3 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Bruxelles 16.09.2011
15 9.76 -0.1 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Roma 31.05.2012
15 9.76 +1.4 Yohan Blake JAM 26.12.89 1rA Zürich 30.08.2012
19 9.77 +1.6 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Athínai 14.06.2005
19 9.77 +1.5 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Gateshead 11.06.2006
19 9.77 +1.0 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1rA Zürich 18.08.2006
19 9.77 +1.6 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 1q1 Eugene 28.06.2008
19 9.77 -1.3 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Bruxelles 05.09.2008
19 9.77 +0.9 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1h1 Rieti 07.09.2008
19 9.77 +0.4 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 1 Roma 10.07.2009
19 9.77 -0.3 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Moskva 11.08.2013
19 9.77 +0.6 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1 Bruxelles 05.09.2014
28 9.78 ±0.0 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Rieti 09.09.2007
28 9.78 -0.4 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 1 London 13.08.2010
28 9.78 +0.9 Nesta Carter JAM 10.11.85 1 Rieti 29.08.2010
28 9.78 +1.0 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1rA Lausanne 30.06.2011
28 9.78 -0.3 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1 Monaco 17.07.2015
33 9.79 +0.1 Maurice Greene USA 23.07.74 1r3 Athínai 16.06.1999
33 9.79 -0.2 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Saint-Denis 17.07.2009
33 9.79 +0.1 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 1 Bruxelles 27.08.2010
33 9.79 +1.1 Tyson Gay USA 09.08.82 1h1 Clermont 04.06.2011
33 9.79 +0.6 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Oslo 07.06.2012
33 9.79 +1.5 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 3 London 05.08.2012
39 9.80 +0.2 Maurice Greene USA 23.07.74 1 Sevilla 22.08.1999
39 9.80 +1.3 Steve Mullings JAM 29.11.82 1 Eugene 04.06.2011
39 9.80 +1.8 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1 Eugene 24.06.2012
39 9.80 +0.6 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1 Bruxelles 06.09.2013
39 9.80 +0.1 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1rA Lausanne 03.07.2014
44 9.81 ±0.0 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1rA Zürich 28.08.2009
44 9.81 +1.3 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Saint-Denis 04.07.2015
46 9.82 -0.2 Maurice Greene USA 23.07.74 1 Edmonton 05.08.2001
46 9.82 ±0.0 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1rA Monaco 29.07.2008
46 9.82 +1.4 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Rieti 07.09.2008
46 9.82 +1.4 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Szczecin 15.09.2009
46 9.82 +0.6 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Roma 10.06.2010
46 9.82 +0.5 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1rA Lausanne 08.07.2010
46 9.82 ±0.0 Yohan Blake JAM 26.12.89 1r3 Zürich 08.09.2011
46 9.82 +0.1 Yohan Blake JAM 26.12.89 1 Berlin 11.09.2011
46 9.82 +1.8 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1rA Kingston 05.05.2012
46 9.82 +0.7 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1s1 London 05.08.2012
46 9.82 +1.7 Richard Thompson TTO 07.06.85 1r A Port of Spain 21.06.2014
46 9.82 -0.1 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1rA Linz 14.07.2014
58 9.83 -0.3 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Stuttgart 22.09.2007
58 9.83 -0.5 Usain Bolt JAM 21.08.86 1rA Zürich 29.08.2008
58 9.83 -1.3 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 2 Bruxelles 05.09.2008
58 9.83 -0.5 Asafa Powell JAM 23.11.82 1 Ostrava 27.05.2010
58 9.83 +0.7 Justin Gatlin USA 10.02.82 1r2 Rieti 07.09.2014
Golly gosh.
All cheats.