So playing for Man Utd is worth £1.2m, but having managerial experience is worth £300k? Good news for Wes Brown, I guess...
If Bolt wins the treble of 100m, 200m and 4x100m again this year, I think that automatically propels him to the greatest Olympian of all time. A total of 9 golds, in the same three events, in three consecutive Olympics will never be beaten by a sprinter. Before Bolt it was virtually unheard of to do repeat golds in any one of these events, to do it in all three, against some exceptional competition, potentially three times over, would be the single greatest accomplishment in sport.
CARL LEWIS: Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals, including nine gold, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired.
For me, as a former discuss thrower, it's got to be Al Oerter. The first man to win gold at 4 consecutive Olympic Games and one tough bugger: Oerter began his Olympic career at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He was not considered the favorite but he felt a rush during the competition and he unleashed a throw of 184 feet 22 inches (56.64 m)—which, at the time, was a career best. The throw was good enough to win the competition by more than 5 inches (130 mm). It seemed Oerter's career would be over at the age of 20, when in 1957, an automobile accident nearly killed him. He recovered in time to compete at the 1960 Summer Olympics at Rome, where he was the slight favorite over teammate and world record holder Rink Babka. Babka was in the lead for the first four of the six rounds. He gave Oerter advice before his fifth throw; Oerter threw his discus 194 feet 2 inches (59.18 m), setting an Olympic record. Babka was not able to beat Oerter's throw and finished with silver. During the early 1960s, Oerter continued to have success, setting his first world record in 1962. In the process, he was the first to break 200 feet in the discus. He was considered a heavy favorite to win a third gold medal at Tokyo in 1964. Injuries again seemed to have felled Oerter before the Games. He was bothered by a neck injury then he tore cartilage in his ribs shortly before the competition. Competing in great pain, Oerter set a new Olympic standard and won a third Olympic gold medal despite not being able to take his last throw due to the pain from his ribs. As before, he bettered his own record with a throw of 61 metres (200 ft). Oerter returned to the Olympics in 1968 at Mexico City but he had yielded the position of favorite to teammate Jay Silvester. Many felt that Oerter, at 32, was finished since Oerter had never thrown as far as Silvester did on his average throws. At the Olympics, however, Oerter released another Olympic record throw of 64.78 metres (212.5 ft) on his third throw. His record held and he became the first track and field athlete to win four consecutive gold medals. Oerter retired from athletics after the 1968 Olympics. Later eyeing a comeback, in 1976 he took anabolic steroids under medical supervision in order to put on muscle mass. However, he stopped the course as this affected his blood pressure and failed to give much improvement on the field. After this he advised athletes to avoid such drugs and focus on training and technique instead. He was critical of the increase of drug use and the subsequent testing in track and field, stating that it had destroyed the culture of athlete camaraderie and that the banning of athletes such as Ben Plucknett was merely scapegoating by international officials.[2][3] Oerter did make an attempt to qualify for the American team in 1980 but he finished fourth. He nonetheless set his overall personal record of 69.46 metres (227.9 ft) that year at the age of 43. When filming for a TV segment, he unofficially threw about 245 feet (75 m), which would have set a still-standing world record. In later years, Oerter carried the Olympic flag for the 1984 Summer Olympics, then carried Olympic flame into the stadium for the 1996 Olympic Games.
I agree Lewis' 4 consecutive long jump golds is unbeatable - but his sprint record is not as good as Bolt's (even if he doesn't win this year, which seems unlikely). Lewis wins on versatility, Bolt wins on sheer dominance.
Bolt has smashed world records in events where previous WR holders have trimmed fractions of seconds off the times. Bolt is head and shoulders above any sprinter who has ever drawn breath, but comparisons with the past are futile. How Owens, Lewis etc would have fared today with modern diet, equipment, medicine, training, equipment etc is something we'll never know. But Bolt's domination despite his ungainliness, slow start etc and the way he tends to dance and/or celebrate through the last 20 metres suggests that he could possibly post even faster times - and that would surely put him so far ahead of any athlete from any era that theoretical discussions would be immaterial.
South Korea have beaten reigning champions Mexico 1-0, sending their opponents out in the group stage. The result means that they top the group, despite Germany's 10(ten)-0 mauling of Fiji. Could be very good news for us, if they keep it up. A medal for Son would see him avoid national service.
I think it's a matter of perception. The 100m is the 'rock star' of the athletics world. The short, dramatic extravaganza that is like a gunfight. Does that mean that those who excel at it are the greatest Olympians? Personally, the strength, fitness, sheer grit and determination of someone like Steve Redgrave, for me, is right up there with the very best of all.
I agree, it is typical of the media to pick the almost superficial qualities of a 10 second event, that carries the sexy title the fastest man on the planet. Of course sprinters train hard to hone their natural gifts but IMO it doesn't come close to the effort required by rowers, or decathletes or even 10,000 metre runners. It is insulting to the huge efforts required to shine in these events to be compared to the 'easiest' event in the Games. The lauding of Bolt just reflects the superficial values of the media.
Aren't there indoor 60 metre races? I wonder if it is possible to be "the fastest man on the planet" over a shorter distance? It would be just like the media to be wrong about that title for the 100m. Mind you, it probably takes a few metres to get up to the fastest speed.
World record for 60 metres is 6.39, for the 100 it is 9.58 and for the 200 it is 19.19 so the 60 metres is ,on average slower than the longer races. It is possible that the terminal speed in the 60 metres is greater though, but there doesn't appear to be any info about that
South Korea will face Honduras in their Olympic quarter-final, after their opponents' surprise qualification. Argentina were expected to join Portugal from that group, but they suffered an embarrassing elimination. An opening 1-0 loss to the group winners was followed by a 1-0 win over Algeria. The Hondurans held them to a 1-1 draw though, which was good enough to see them through on goals scored.
The start takes it's toll and effects the shorter races more as it's a near constant that is added to times regardless of the distance. Then again, I'm sure the bend in the 200m also slows things slightly. Would be interesting to know the time differences across the races if they took the first 10/15 metres out and started the time once they reached that point. I always struggle to get into the Olympics, to be honest. Most of the sports fall into 2 categories for me - either I don't understand the sport well enough to understand what's good and bad, or they're really simple and a bit boring. There are some, like the gym stuff, where it's just incredible to watch what the atheletes can achieve though. I'd rather watch us fail miserably at cricket Root
Getting a bit Monty Python there. There are 2 types of Olympic Sport, the obscure ones and the dull simple ones. And the ones that are incredible to watch....there are 3 types of Olympic sport..
Not me. When I used to sprint I was better on the bend as my left leg is a tiny bit shorter. Of course if we ran the opposite way round the track it would be a disaster!
I said "most" Although, to be fair, there is another category; sports I understand and generally enjoy outside of the watered down versions we get in the Olympics. Like with football, tennis, rugby and boxing. FOUR! There are four types of... actually I still enjoy the boxing. Fiv... ah **** it, it's easier just to ban people questioning me.
