Usain Bolt ran 9.85 seconds to beat his rival Asafa Powell (9.97) in the 100m in Jamaica, meanwhile Tyson Gay, ran the fastest 100m of all-time, a wind-assisted 9.68 secs, at the American trials. Behind Gay came Walter Dix second in 9.80, with Darvis Patton third in 9.84 and Travis Padgett finishing fourth and so missing out on the trip despite running 9.85. In fact six of the US trials finalists ran under 10 seconds and the athlete who finished 7th ran 10.01 - that is seriously high quality sprinting. You can see the full results here.
Whilst looking for the full results of the Jamaican trials I found a site devoted to the most elegant female sprinter of all time Merlene Ottey. Take a trip there to see some great photos and details of a career at the top of World sprinting that lasted nearly 20 years.
Meanwhile from Wikipedia here is a list of:
"Records and achievements
* Ottey ranks at number three on the list of the top ten all time athletes on the 200 meters - women, and number four on the 100 meter list.
* Ottey has won a record number of medals at the indoor championships —six.
* Ottey is the first female athlete to run 60 meters under seven seconds, 100 metres under eleven seconds—a feat she has accomplished 67 times — and 200 metres Indoor under 22 seconds. She has also clocked the fastest 100 and 200 meters in the same day.
* Ottey has 57 consecutive wins in 100 meters—the most consecutive wins over 100 meters for a female, and 34 consecutive wins at 200 meters.
* Ottey is the fastest in the world among all female athletes over 30. She has recorded the fastest time for any female athlete at age 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and age 40.
* Ottey is the first from the Western Hemisphere (outside the USA) to win two individual medals at the same games.
* At the 1995 World Championships, Ottey became the oldest ever female gold medallist when she won the 200 m at age 35 years 92 days. At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, she became the oldest female medallist ever at 37 years 90 days, when she won the bronze medal. In 2000, at age 40, Ottey became the oldest track and field medalist when she anchored the Jamaican women's 4×100 meters to a silver medal.
* Ottey is also one of two athletes to win twenty medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships (combined).
* Ottey holds the record for running the fastest women's Indoor 200 metres, in 21.87 seconds.
* In five World Championships, Ottey has so far won thirteen medals: three gold, four silver and six bronze medals, while at the Olympics she has earned two silver and five bronze medals.
* Ottey has won more Olympic medals than any other athlete from the Western Hemisphere. She is also the first female Caribbean athlete to win an Olympic medal.
* Ottey's Olympics Medals:
o Moscow 1980 200 m Bronze
o Los Angeles 1984 100 m & 200 m Bronze
o Barcelona 1992 200 m Bronze
o Atlanta 1996 100 m & 200 m Silver & 4 x 100 m relay Bronze
o Sydney 2000 4 x 100 m relay Silver
* Ottey has the most women's World Championships medals with fourteen:
o Helsinki 1983 200 m Silver & 4 x 100 m relay Bronze
o Rome 1987 100 m & 200 m Bronze
o Tokyo 1991 100 m & 200 m Bronze & 4 x 100 m relay Gold
o Stuttgart 1993 100 m Silver & 200 m Gold & 4 x 100 m relay Bronze
o Gothenburg 1995 100 m Silver & 200 m Gold & 4 x 100 m relay Silver
o Athens 1997 200 m Bronze"
What an athlete.
1 comment:
When the Olympics were held in inconvenient time zones (for me) like LA '84, Seoul '88, Atlanta '96 I used to stay up into the wee small hours watching track & field events - even the heats let alone the finals.
No more. There are just too many drug scandals out there. The men's 100m is a prime example: Ben Johnson, Linford Christie and Justin Gatlin are all tainted. Maurice Greene is battling to save his reputation. That's four of the last five men to cross the line first in the Olympic 100m final.
The BALCO and Trevor Graham cases have further eroded my confidence in track and field.
So has the imprisonment of both Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.
Let's face it - no matter who crosses the line first in Beijing, people will be wondering if they're clean. Past experience will indicate that the likely answer is "no".
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