An even faster Bolt? Physicist says 9.55 was possible
Posted on September 12th, 2008 – 3:09 PMBy Michael Rand
Usain Bolt electrified those watching the Summer Olympics with his feats of speed (and feet, we suppose). But if you thought his 9.69 world-record time in the 100 was impressive, a Norwegian physicist wants you to know it could have been even better if Bolt wasn’t such a ham. From the AP:
“We estimate that he could have finished the race in a time between 9.55 and 9.61,” Norwegian physicist Hans Eriksen said Friday in a telephone interview.
Bolt won the final at the Beijing Olympics last month in 9.69 seconds, shaving 0.03 seconds off the record he set in May.
Eriksen, a physicist at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, said he got the idea to examine just how quick Bolt could have gone after hearing Bolt’s coach say the Jamaican could have run 9.52 seconds.
“We saw the final on television and then spent the whole weekend researching,” Eriksen said. “It was fun. We’ve done more serious research work, but this one got far more attention.”
Eriksen and his colleagues analyzed TV footage of the race, focusing on Bolt’s position, speed and acceleration, as well as that of runner-up Richard Thompson.
Both sprinters slowed before the finish line, but Bolt’s chest-beating celebration some 20 meters before the line cut his speed more.
No word yet on whether Eriksen plans to study Michael Phelps’ performance to determine whether the swimmer would have been even more dominant without his freakishly large ears.
18 Responses to "An even faster Bolt? Physicist says 9.55 was possible"
Joker is not impressed and thinks he could go MUCH faster.
It’s theoretically impossible for any sprinter to hold top speed til the end, even close to top end speed w/o a significant falloff, but it’s likely Bolt would have dropped his time further if he didn’t go nuts near the end (and more power to him for that). But forecasting a sprinter’s time is something coaches and now physicists watching monitors is a pastime these sideline folks just love to do, since really..the phrase jock sniffer applies here..;)
Sorry for being tardy with an order, real work reared it’s ugly head today…
I’ll take a Large please.
And put me down for having to pay out of state shipping too.
Oh, and getting back to a question raised a few days ago about good deals: buying a celebrated mythological item for $5 has to be one of the better bargains out there…
Bolt to scientist: “Usain I coulda been faster?”
/Friday delirium
P3: That is why the physicist stated “a time between 9.55 and 9.61″ was possible. It is impossible to determine the actually “falloff” at the end of the race. If there had been someone pushing him there may not have been any “falloff” and he could have ran a 9.55. If the race was not close, like it was, Bolt like all sprinters, will slow and his time would be closer to 9.61 (provided he didn’t celebrate during the race). My point is this, if an athletes is pushed it is not impossible for said athlete to hold top end speed for 20 more meters.
“/Friday delirium”
/Nods head up and down
Nick Punto theorized Bolt would have run a gritty 9.35 had he dove headfirst.
+1 Brandon
Merz, you are correct not only because the world has never seen anyone like Bolt..ever, but because he hasn’t often been pushed hard (though his World Class countryman has pushed him)
But, and I don’t know where you would find this on the ‘net, but coaches teach these guys to go all out for 60 then hold it…not let up or slow down but punch it hard for 60 then maintain that top speed. If you can find that info on some arcan track manual online, great, but I did run sprints alot and at the 60 yard mark, you feel it very seriously, and though you are going as fast as you can, you simply can’t accelerate at that point. If you watch Bolt at the Olympics, he’s already winning at that point, and the announcers, the better ones, talk of getting up to speed at the 60 and holding it. Although much shorter, it’s somewhat like the 400 in that no one can blast out of the blocks and keep accelerating, and the point most sprinters reach a steady state, a state they can handle is 60 meters. Bolt may accelerate past that, but I saw him wrap up his races much earlier…
Who’s Merz?
Rand have fun hanging out in the new Edina tonight. I hope they let you in the stadium.
“Rand have fun hanging out in the new Edina tonight. I hope they let you in the stadium.”
If he brings a cake he should have no problem getting in.
Just don’t go putting the “Horn” in “Hornets.”
SCH: I get the feeling jama was talking about the Tonka-Hopkins tilt…
No Dave, Rand is going to your beloved Eden Prairie tonight. He should bring his own red cup, no?
“You can come too, bring your green hat.”
AZGG: I think someone will spot Rand a cup if he forgets. They won’t even charge him the $5.
Bonus Points if he rolls up in the Stribmobile with Matchbox 20 blasting.
Wearing his Puma jacket…
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/08/a-93-100-meters.html
Slow response there huh
