If Usain Bolt Wins the 200m As Convincingly as the 100m...

[amat]

would his performance be more dominant then Michael Phelps? I think so. Discuss.

[Kev]

would his performance be more dominant then Michael Phelps? I think so. Discuss.

How do you figure that considering Phelps won 8 golds?

[amat]

Well there are a lot more chances for gold in the sport of swimming. I might be mistaken but I don't believe Phelps swam over 200m in these Olympics, the only way for Bolt to win gold would be for him to enter the marathon and 1500m races as well and have one of the greatest relay teams in history.

But I can't egt over just how dominant Bolt was. I love the sprints, they are the highlight of the Olympics for me. For Bolt to get the second worst reaction time out of the blocks, then have it be a wash at the 50m mark is beyond ridiculous. They were saying he could have been in the 9.5's if he didn't start pounding his chest at 70m, yet even when he pounded his chest he still set the world record and by a lot. 9.69. Put that in the perspective of earlier this year, the day Bolt ran 9.72 in the Jamaica qualifiers, Tyson Gay ran the fastest 100m time in history with a 9.68 which barely qualified as wind aided. He went full stop to try to make a statement and he did. Put him right back up there as the favorite in the race, he could have ran that time, the fastest in history, and Bolt would have been forced to run 75 instead of 70. It's stuff that is so mind boggling it's to hard to wrap your head around. And (barring steroids) there is no controversy about the technology in running which there is in swimming which makes you take those world records with a grain of salt. Not to mention, Phelps, as epic as his Olympics have been, hasn't been untouchable as he's had a few fairly close finishes. Bolt on the other hand just doesn't seem human, he has been running the 100 for less then a year. I think he had less then 10 comps under his belt when he set the WR at the qualifiers, I don't know what he is at now.

Not to mention he is competing in a sport in which every able bodied person on this planet has an opportunity to compete in regardless of where they come from or what type of money they have.

**edit - Phelps did the 400 IM but that was his only event over 200m.

[Kev]

Phelps has won the 400 meters individual medley, 4 x 100 freestyle relay, 200 m freestyle, 200 m butterfly, 4x 200 freestyle relay, 200 m individual medley, 100 m butterfly and 4x100 medley relay.

I think swimming freestyle and butterfly are two totally different strokes and must be similar to a runner running 100 meters and 110 meter hurdles.

I guess for Bolt to match Phelps he would need the following.

100 meters
200 meters
110 hurdles
200 hurdles
400 metres
4x100 meters
4x200 meters

Then he'd be better imo.

[Youngblood]

I think not. Math says no. Bilbo offers a good explanation as to why. Plus consider how many times the world record for 100 and 200m has been broken, and likely how much more it will be broken. How soon until someone breaks Phelps precedent setting performance? Can't see it happening any time soon. Plus he will be back in 4 years most likely also.

[Youngblood]

Just watched Bolt run the 200m. I too am a fan of his and sprinting. He jogged about 1/2 of it.

[amat]

There is no way Bolt is going to be even close to as decorated as Phelps I'm not arguing that, and I don't buy the freestyle/butterfly stroke either because how many swimmers compete in both? Nearly all of them. How manny runners compete in both sprints and hurdles? I can't recall any and I imagine you would have to go back a bit to find someone who medaled in both. That can't be a valid comparision.

And none of Phelps margin of victories were as completely unprecedented as Bolt's who could have won by more 5 lengths if he chose to.

[Kev]

There is no way Bolt is going to be even close to as decorated as Phelps I'm not arguing that, and I don't buy the freestyle/butterfly stroke either because how many swimmers compete in both? Nearly all of them. How manny runners compete in both sprints and hurdles? I can't recall any and I imagine you would have to go back a bit to find someone who medaled in both. That can't be a valid comparision.

And none of Phelps margin of victories were as completely unprecedented as Bolt's who could have won by more 5 lengths if he chose to.

Well Carl Lewis won Olympic golds in both the 100 meters, 200 meters and Long Jump and then became the only man in history to defend both his 100 meters and Long Jump titles.

I don't really see any difference at all between 100 and 200 meters to be honest, the best sprinter in the world would naturally be world class over both events.

Phelps has won both 100 and 400 meter medals in this tournament plus there's much more of a difference between swimming an extra hundred meters and running it.

Besides am I alone in thinking that running is mostly a matter of genetics, I mean how much skill can there really be in running in a straight line?

At least swimming involves relatively difficult and unnatural techniques to learn, man not being adapted to the water after all.

I don't see any reason why a track and field athlete should find it any tougher to dominate multiple events than a swimmer really.

IF Carl Lewis can win both the 100 meter and 200 meter events plus the Long Jump then why not Bolt?

He hasn't done as much as Phelps, not even close imo, it just happens that the 100 meters is perhaps the most glamourous event and so gets more publicity.

[Salty]

I'd like to see Bolt win the 400m, he could win 5 golds that way 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x 100m and 4x 400m. Now that would be a massive achievement. He is a freak of nature though, starting to wind up his run with about 70 m to go and still manages 20.0 something. He could break Michael Johnsons record by the looks of him.

[Kev]

I'd like to see Bolt win the 400m, he could win 5 golds that way 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x 100m and 4x 400m. Now that would be a massive achievement. He is a freak of nature though, starting to wind up his run with about 70 m to go and still manages 20.0 something. He could break Michael Johnsons record by the looks of him.

Yeah that would be something to see.

I see no reason why an athlete like Bolt couldn't dominate several events, like I said Lewis was the Long Jump world record holder as well as a top sprinter.

It's about time we had a truly great athlete who could do it all.

[amat]

There is no way Bolt is going to be even close to as decorated as Phelps I'm not arguing that, and I don't buy the freestyle/butterfly stroke either because how many swimmers compete in both? Nearly all of them. How manny runners compete in both sprints and hurdles? I can't recall any and I imagine you would have to go back a bit to find someone who medaled in both. That can't be a valid comparision.

And none of Phelps margin of victories were as completely unprecedented as Bolt's who could have won by more 5 lengths if he chose to.

Well Carl Lewis won Olympic golds in both the 100 meters, 200 meters and Long Jump and then became the only man in history to defend both his 100 meters and Long Jump titles.

I don't really see any difference at all between 100 and 200 meters to be honest, the best sprinter in the world would naturally be world class over both events.

Phelps has won both 100 and 400 meter medals in this tournament plus there's much more of a difference between swimming an extra hundred meters and running it.

Besides am I alone in thinking that running is mostly a matter of genetics, I mean how much skill can there really be in running in a straight line?

At least swimming involves relatively difficult and unnatural techniques to learn, man not being adapted to the water after all.

I don't see any reason why a track and field athlete should find it any tougher to dominate multiple events than a swimmer really.

IF Carl Lewis can win both the 100 meter and 200 meter events plus the Long Jump then why not Bolt?

He hasn't done as much as Phelps, not even close imo, it just happens that the 100 meters is perhaps the most glamourous event and so gets more publicity.

Gah I hate disagreeing with you Bilbo, if you can't even acknowledge that sprinting requires some skill or isn't determined at birth then how is anything I'm writing going to mean anything? oh well

There is a ton of skill that goes in running, the same amount of skill that goes in swimming because half of the battle is just perfecting your technique. Besides, Phelps is 6'4 and has 30 inch legs with a size 15 shoe, if anyone is benefiting from genetics it is him.

How can you not see the difference between the 100 and 200? The 200m is way different just like a 1 mile and an 8th horse race is way different then a mile and a half horse race. Some people just hit their stride later. Bolt is built much better for the 200m because of how long his legs are. Usually guys with builds like that can't get going so fast which is what has been so amazing about Bolt from day 1. Bolt running 30 MPH isn't what makes him so amazing or a freak of nature, it's the fact that he can generate that speed so quickly. It's something the world has never seen before, if it was all down to genetics Bilbo then every runner in the 100 would be 6'5 and long and lanky not short and compact. What makes the 200 so interesting and so different is because you see more of a variety in body types and that's where you get an interesting mix of front runners and closers, much like horse racing. Bolt I would think is going to be untouchable in the 200 and I agree, I would like to see him run the 400 in the future.

And I don't think Bolt has ever competed in the long jump, it's a completely different sport. Jumping, running. Why doesn't Michael Phelps do synchronized diving? They both take place in water right? A lot of the American sprinters do do the long jump, Marion Jones also did the long jump but most drop it either in college or once they leave college if they make it that far in competition.

[Kev]

There is no way Bolt is going to be even close to as decorated as Phelps I'm not arguing that, and I don't buy the freestyle/butterfly stroke either because how many swimmers compete in both? Nearly all of them. How manny runners compete in both sprints and hurdles? I can't recall any and I imagine you would have to go back a bit to find someone who medaled in both. That can't be a valid comparision.

And none of Phelps margin of victories were as completely unprecedented as Bolt's who could have won by more 5 lengths if he chose to.

Well Carl Lewis won Olympic golds in both the 100 meters, 200 meters and Long Jump and then became the only man in history to defend both his 100 meters and Long Jump titles.

I don't really see any difference at all between 100 and 200 meters to be honest, the best sprinter in the world would naturally be world class over both events.

Phelps has won both 100 and 400 meter medals in this tournament plus there's much more of a difference between swimming an extra hundred meters and running it.

Besides am I alone in thinking that running is mostly a matter of genetics, I mean how much skill can there really be in running in a straight line?

At least swimming involves relatively difficult and unnatural techniques to learn, man not being adapted to the water after all.

I don't see any reason why a track and field athlete should find it any tougher to dominate multiple events than a swimmer really.

IF Carl Lewis can win both the 100 meter and 200 meter events plus the Long Jump then why not Bolt?

He hasn't done as much as Phelps, not even close imo, it just happens that the 100 meters is perhaps the most glamourous event and so gets more publicity.

Gah I hate disagreeing with you Bilbo, if you can't even acknowledge that sprinting requires some skill or isn't determined at birth then how is anything I'm writing going to mean anything? oh well

There is a ton of skill that goes in running, the same amount of skill that goes in swimming because half of the battle is just perfecting your technique. Besides, Phelps is 6'4 and has 30 inch legs with a size 15 shoe, if anyone is benefiting from genetics it is him.

How can you not see the difference between the 100 and 200? The 200m is way different just like a 1 mile and an 8th horse race is way different then a mile and a half horse race. Some people just hit their stride later. Bolt is built much better for the 200m because of how long his legs are. Usually guys with builds like that can't get going so fast which is what has been so amazing about Bolt from day 1. Bolt running 30 MPH isn't what makes him so amazing or a freak of nature, it's the fact that he can generate that speed so quickly. It's something the world has never seen before, if it was all down to genetics Bilbo then every runner in the 100 would be 6'5 and long and lanky not short and compact. What makes the 200 so interesting and so different is because you see more of a variety in body types and that's where you get an interesting mix of front runners and closers, much like horse racing. Bolt I would think is going to be untouchable in the 200 and I agree, I would like to see him run the 400 in the future.

And I don't think Bolt has ever competed in the long jump, it's a completely different sport. Jumping, running. Why doesn't Michael Phelps do synchronized diving? They both take place in water right? A lot of the American sprinters do do the long jump, Marion Jones also did the long jump but most drop it either in college or once they leave college if they make it that far in competition.

I'm not really disagreeing with you Amat, you know a lot more about the sport of sprinting than I do. To me it's just running in a stright line, but as yuo explained there is more to it than that.

I agree Phelps is genetically gifted but I would think swimming is harder to master than running just because we are designed to be able run and move around on land but not designed to swim in the water.

I find athletics to be a lot more interesting than swimming though.

[amat]

That's a good point about being made to swim. I guess it comes down to billions of potential competitors versus...what you said.

I guess Phelps may be the most dominant athlete of the games but Bolt so far has been the most impressive imo. That's just off one race though but really that's one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen in all of sport.

[Kev]

Well got to say Bolt did look pretty awesome in the 200, another world record.

To beat both the 100 and 200 meter world records in one week is pretty special.

Let's hope he doesn't get done for drugs immediately following this.

[match]

I think not. Math says no. Bilbo offers a good explanation as to why. Plus consider how many times the world record for 100 and 200m has been broken, and likely how much more it will be broken. How soon until someone breaks Phelps precedent setting performance? Can't see it happening any time soon. Plus he will be back in 4 years most likely also.

The 200m is rarely broken. It last stood for 12 years.