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Michael Johnson: Usain Bolt's lightning 100 metre performance left me speechless
By Michael Johnson in Berlin
Published: 7:30AM BST 18 Aug 2009
Point proven: Usain Bolt yet again confirmed his majesty in the 100 metres with a majestic performance in Berlin Photo: GETTY IMAGES
And it's true that while my colleagues in the studio were up on their feet urging Usain Bolt on to victory and the world record, I was stuck in my chair, absolutely speechless.
It was the same just after the race: there really aren't words to describe what we had just seen. But I've had a bit of time to reflect on it now, and the thing for me is not just "How great is Usain Bolt?" We know the answer to that one. For me, it's more about a new way of thinking about the 100m at the top level for the next few years.
The question for Bolt's rivals is: what can they do about him? Let's look at the situation from Tyson Gay's perspective. He has just run 100m in 9.71, a time that he might never have thought he would be capable of achieving. And he got beaten by two metres.
Thank goodness, from Gay's point of view, that he had the opportunity in 2007 to win world championship golds at 100 and 200m. For him, it's over. And the same is true for other young sprinters of around Bolt's age, like Daniel Bailey and Richard Thompson. What can they do?
There are eight lanes on a running track and organisers are going to have to fill the other seven, so there will be a living to be made, but the prospect of major titles at 100m for anyone apart from Bolt in the foreseeable future is zero as long as he stays uninjured.
In the past I have been highly critical of British sprinters for being satisfied with national records and titles and not pushing on for international championships. But that point of view now applies to all 100m runners, including those from the USA. There is no point in them being hard on themselves, but national titles and records - unless you are Jamaican - look like all there is to shoot for in the 100m at the moment.
For the first time in the history of the sport, you will look like an idiot if you say that you can beat the world record holder. Coaches of some of the world's best sprinters have a big job on now to motivate their athletes. And if I was a coach myself, I would have a hard time trying to convince my athlete that he could beat Bolt at 100m.
The 200m, which we are now looking forward to here, may be a different matter. At the shorter distance, you have to think that Bolt will dominate for years because he is still so young and has a lot of running left in him.
At the longer distance his stride length and the way that he gobbles up the ground will certainly work in his favour, but there is also an endurance factor to consider. Over 100m, we have known for some time that there were amazing improvements to come from him, the way that he was winning big races easing down 40m from the line.
Over 200m, that has not been the case, and he seems to be all out pretty much from start to finish. I moved away from 200m to 400m in my late twenties, left the 200m to other guys, but Bolt, and his rivals, know that the shorter distances will be what he is running for a good while.
He's a showman, but in a good way. When he first came up with his routines on the startline it was on the back of some great performances - he was already a star. But when you looked along the line before the 100m here and saw all of the competitors doing that stuff I just thought: who are you guys? From Bolt, though, I love it.
The championships here have been going very well, the atmosphere has been good and so has the competition. But now we have got the 100 metres done – and no disrespect here to Usain Bolt – we can get down to races that are actually going to be races, in which everyone at the start-line for the final has a real chance of winning. Because that was not the case in the 100 metres.
By Michael Johnson in Berlin
Published: 7:30AM BST 18 Aug 2009
Point proven: Usain Bolt yet again confirmed his majesty in the 100 metres with a majestic performance in Berlin Photo: GETTY IMAGES
And it's true that while my colleagues in the studio were up on their feet urging Usain Bolt on to victory and the world record, I was stuck in my chair, absolutely speechless.
It was the same just after the race: there really aren't words to describe what we had just seen. But I've had a bit of time to reflect on it now, and the thing for me is not just "How great is Usain Bolt?" We know the answer to that one. For me, it's more about a new way of thinking about the 100m at the top level for the next few years.
The question for Bolt's rivals is: what can they do about him? Let's look at the situation from Tyson Gay's perspective. He has just run 100m in 9.71, a time that he might never have thought he would be capable of achieving. And he got beaten by two metres.
Thank goodness, from Gay's point of view, that he had the opportunity in 2007 to win world championship golds at 100 and 200m. For him, it's over. And the same is true for other young sprinters of around Bolt's age, like Daniel Bailey and Richard Thompson. What can they do?
There are eight lanes on a running track and organisers are going to have to fill the other seven, so there will be a living to be made, but the prospect of major titles at 100m for anyone apart from Bolt in the foreseeable future is zero as long as he stays uninjured.
In the past I have been highly critical of British sprinters for being satisfied with national records and titles and not pushing on for international championships. But that point of view now applies to all 100m runners, including those from the USA. There is no point in them being hard on themselves, but national titles and records - unless you are Jamaican - look like all there is to shoot for in the 100m at the moment.
For the first time in the history of the sport, you will look like an idiot if you say that you can beat the world record holder. Coaches of some of the world's best sprinters have a big job on now to motivate their athletes. And if I was a coach myself, I would have a hard time trying to convince my athlete that he could beat Bolt at 100m.
The 200m, which we are now looking forward to here, may be a different matter. At the shorter distance, you have to think that Bolt will dominate for years because he is still so young and has a lot of running left in him.
At the longer distance his stride length and the way that he gobbles up the ground will certainly work in his favour, but there is also an endurance factor to consider. Over 100m, we have known for some time that there were amazing improvements to come from him, the way that he was winning big races easing down 40m from the line.
Over 200m, that has not been the case, and he seems to be all out pretty much from start to finish. I moved away from 200m to 400m in my late twenties, left the 200m to other guys, but Bolt, and his rivals, know that the shorter distances will be what he is running for a good while.
He's a showman, but in a good way. When he first came up with his routines on the startline it was on the back of some great performances - he was already a star. But when you looked along the line before the 100m here and saw all of the competitors doing that stuff I just thought: who are you guys? From Bolt, though, I love it.
The championships here have been going very well, the atmosphere has been good and so has the competition. But now we have got the 100 metres done – and no disrespect here to Usain Bolt – we can get down to races that are actually going to be races, in which everyone at the start-line for the final has a real chance of winning. Because that was not the case in the 100 metres.
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