THE THROWN IS OPEN...

The last few Athletics seasons have been mind-blowing for any long-term fans of the 100m. Maybe not as exciting as previous seasons including the likes of Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene along with their rivals. Though nobody can deny from a stop-watch perspective, there's never been better.
I've wanted to do a post on Athletics since I started this blog and I even touched on the sport at the beginning. Though it comes today almost as a direct result of Tyson Gay defeating Usain Bolt in Stockholm last night.

What this pic doesn't show is the comfortable distance Tyson won this race by

It was bound to happen sooner or later, although it may come as a shock to people who don't follow the sport dead regularly. Let me try my best to break this down quickly, since these things (me) always have a habit of going on and on....
What we have this year is the Diamond League. Very similar to the Golden league which was the usual off-season money-earner for athletes. What this competition consists of is a number of event across the globe in which athletes will race for points. Therefore losing one race is no biggie if you happen to have won a few others already. The winner from each event, being the person with the highest number of points, will get a cash prize and a diamond come the end of the season. For exact details if you're that fussed, just consult the Diamond League website.

This is no major championship. What's more it has caused an annoyance amongst athletes who were hoping after the World Championships last year that this year could be some what of a rest. This is pretty much the case of Usain Bolt, who peaked tremendously last year destroying two WR's. Just looking at Bolt this season it's easy to tell he's out of shape. He doesn't look as powerful physically (in stature) and when bursting out of the blocks. What many don't understand is that these guys are finely tuned athletes. Their bodies are pushing on 90-100% of their capabilities. Therefore, to miss even a few weeks of training will have adverse effects on performance. This is a reason why some people may be baffled as to why one week Tyson Gay may win a race against Asafa Powell, yet a few weeks later may lose to Powell.

At the start of this season, Asafa looked in possibly the best shape I've ever seen him. He'd lost some of the bulk, looking leaner and more sprightly than ever before. He ran a very quick, slightly wind assisted, time that still hasn't been matched this year. However it's remains unknown whether he can perform in any kind of major championship. Foolishly he handed Tyson a win in Gateshead the other week because he simply slowed to much approaching the line.

My sympathies went out to Tyson last year. Only just recovering from a major injury he ran the race of his life in coming second to Bolt and clocking 9.69, the second quickest of all time. If anything, immediately after that race I showed more excitement for the seasons to come. What could Tyson do when in shape?
A big fan of Asafa when he burst on to the season to say I didn't like Gay much was an understatement. Powell, at the time was more talented, it seemed like Gay robbed him of his World Champs in 07. But Tyson has risen rapidly in my estimation. It's evident he has much more of that thing called heart than either Bolt or Powell. Tyson is driven by someone being in front of him, unlike Powell who simply shuts down. Gay is a competitor. If Bolt never came along then I doubt he would have progressed as much as he has.

Tyson has one of the quickest, if not thee quickest foot speed ever seen in pro Track and Field. In case you're thinking, 'hold up a minute, does foot speed not equate to speed and time? Would that not make Tyson the fastest man who ever lived?' Simple, no. Usain is 6'5 with long legs. His legs don't need to move as fast for him to be able to cover as much ground as shorter athletes. In addition, strength comes in to play. Bulky, strong athletes may be no where near as quick as skinny wiry athletes, yet they storm their way down the track through virtually ripping bone from muscle. Watch Tyson's legs when he next runs.....observe the blur and you'll see, or not see in this case.

Usain is without doubt (I've used that term a lot recently) the most naturally talented and blessed athlete there has ever been in this event, some would even say athletics in general. Without going in to the science of his anatomy, just know that he has the fibres, bone structure and tendons necessarily arranged to allow him to run with the terrible crappy form/technique that he does and still dominate. He could most likely run arms flailing like Phoebe and still win. Though he's proving this year to all his beloved fans - who blindly added him as a 'like' on facebook knowing only that he broke the WR last year and he's Jamaican - that he's not invincible.
Do I still think when he's fully fit he could take Gay, you best believe yes. But Gay won't make that easy. I used to think we'd seen the full potential of Gay, yet with that final last year he really shocked me. Now we can look to both Powell and Gay, neither of whom have fulfilled their full potential time-wise, to make next season really interesting. And you know Bolt isn't going anywhere slow.

The Thrown is now open.



Peace.