The Largest Social Media Site in Toronto

It is now official that Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the entire world. Bolt broke the world record for the 100m dash by posting a time of 9.69 and did so while coasting for the last 20 meters or so. At 21, is the youngest man to break the 100 record and at 6'5 is also the tallest man to hold the record.

Bolt looked to be in a class all his own as throughout his semi-final heats he was letting up after 60 meters and simply coasting to victory over his fellow competitors. He took this same mentality to the finals where he dominated the competition and put his name in the record books forever.

Many people after the race wondered why Bolt didn't go hard all the way until the end and so far there have been many theories. One theory is that he let up for financial reasons. Every time you break a world record you get a cash bonus, sometimes up to $1,000,000, so some people felt Bolt just wants to keep breaking the record by a bit to maximize cash value.



A second theory is that Bolt simply knew he was going to win and break a record and wanted to celebrate the moment. When you are that fast you know you're the best so Bolt simply showboated for the crowd and really enjoyed himself during the race.

Whatever theory you believe in you can't take anything away from Bolt who not only wowed fans but also some former competitors as well. “It’s amazing, and I’m not sure I’ve wrapped my mind around it yet,” said Ato Boldon, a four-time Olympic medalist turned television commentator.

One thing to take into account with track and field is the wind assistance. The consensus is that every meter per second of following wind subtracts approximately five one-hundredths of a second from a sprinter’s time. “You put the wind he had in New York behind the 9.69 here, and O.K., now we could be down in the 9.5s except that he shut down with 20 meters to go,” Boldon said. “So now, I’m like, O.K., is that in the 9.4s? It’s mind-boggling.”



What makes Bolt's accomplishment even more amazing is that he only recently started running the 100m. He is a 200m sprinter who felt that he could compete in the 100m and decided to try both. He has only been running the 100m for four months and managed to qualify for the Olympics and break the world record twice in that time frame.

Some people have questioned the validity of the race and think that Bolt must be taking something. This is not too far of a reach however as within the last decade both Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin have been suspended and stripped of the record. However Bolt has never failed a drug test and has been smashing records his entire life. He is the the youngest male world junior champion ever in the 200 as he won the event at the age of 15.

The comparisons will now begin between Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt and people will start to argue whose achievement is more impressive. Phelps will win more medals but Bolt simply dominated while holding back a little. I don't want to take anything away from Bolt but I think the nod clearly goes to Phelps who had more races and is competing in a much more competitive field. Ato Boldon tends to disagree with me however.

“Swimming has their LZR suits and their deeper pools,” Boldon said. “We have a 6-foot-5-inch guy that’s running 9.6s and beating the rest of the Olympic field by two tenths of a second. He’s our new technology.”



Which ever achievement you believe to be better there is no denying that what Usain Bolt did was truly incredible and he deserves nothing but the highest praises. I only hope that he continues to push himself and maybe go a whole 100m running full speed.