Google+ Running in Cork, Ireland: Usain Bolt wins 100m final in an Olympic record time

Monday, August 06, 2012

Usain Bolt wins 100m final in an Olympic record time

Despite all the talk of injuries and loss of form, Usain Bolt won the mens 100m final last night in a time of 9.63 seconds, setting a new Olympic record in the process.

Pos...Lane...Name...Ctry...Time...Stat...Reaction Time
1    7     Usain Bolt     JAM    9.63    (OR)    0.165
2    5     Yohan Blake     JAM    9.75    (=PB)    0.179
3    6     Justin Gatlin     USA    9.79    (PB)    0.178
4    4     Tyson Gay     USA    9.80    (SB)    0.145
5    8     Ryan Bailey     USA    9.88    (=PB)    0.176
6    9     Churandy Martina     NED    9.94     .    0.139
7    2     Richard Thompson     TRI    9.98     .    0.160
8    3     Asafa Powell     JAM    11.99     .    0.155

If you watched the Olympic final then you witnessed what was the second fastest time in history, just 5 one hundredth's slower than Bolt's world record time of 9.58 seconds.

These are the ten fastest times ever. As you can see, only Bolt and Gay have broken the 9.7 second barrier.
9.58    0.9    Usain Bolt     Berlin    16/08/2009
9.63    1.5    Usain Bolt     London (OS)    05/08/2012
9.69    0.0    Usain Bolt     Beijing (National Stadium)    16/08/2008
9.69    2.0    Tyson Gay      Shanghai    20/09/2009
9.71    0.9    Tyson Gay     Berlin    16/08/2009
9.72    1.7    Usain Bolt     New York City, NY    31/05/2008
9.72    0.2    Asafa Powell      Lausanne    02/09/2008
9.74    1.7    Asafa Powell     Rieti    09/09/2007
9.75    1.1    Yohan Blake      Kingston (NS), JAM    29/06/2012
9.75    1.5    Yohan Blake     London (OS)    05/08/2012

What the numbers possibly dont show so clearly is just how fast Bolt is and how unusual these times are. Here is a graph of the top 20 times in the mens 100 metres...
They start at 9.77 seconds and go in steps down to 9.76, 9.75, 9.74, 9.72, 9.71, 9.69, 9.63 and 9.58.

Of the 20 fastest times, Bolt has ran eight. His Olympic record of 9.63 and his world record of 9.58 are way ahead of anything else. It seems likely that unless Bolt tries to break the record again in 2016, the new Olympic record of 9.63 seconds is going to last a very long time indeed.

2 comments:

Rahul said...

Bolt really bolted from the blocks and blew away the American hopes. Its un believeable that some one can reach such speeds and continue for such a long time

Melanie said...

The only person who could've beaten him was himself. Bolt is the world record holder and nobody has ever matched his time, not even Yohan Blake, who beat him twice at the Jamaican Trials in June. He only had to deal with himself to win the gold medal...