Showdown at the Van Damme

[Exile]

Self esteem thing...he keeps repeating this...then he had on a sad face and was wondering why he did n't run so well in the Olympics.

[Gamma]

as profound as this may not sound, it is what it is.

[Karl]

guy?!

who dat? raymond guy?

betah dan Gay!

[Karl]

Self esteem thing...he keeps repeating this...then he had on a sad face and was wondering why he did n't run so well in the Olympics.

Bwoy Exile: Dat man need a forma runner fi wuk wid im pan ow tuh jus lock hout ebryting and jus run! Iffen a fus im cum fine! Iffen a 2nd fine! iffen a las fine! Jus kan-sen-trate pan fi im race! wen im pass di finish line im caan si weh im deh!

[Gamma]

a chue....bob woulda call gay....a "guy"!

[Exile]

Well he sad he running a 110 m today...let's see.

[Willi]

Bwoy Exile: Dat man need a forma runner fi wuk wid im pan ow tuh jus lock hout ebryting and jus run! Iffen a fus im cum fine! Iffen a 2nd fine! iffen a las fine! Jus kan-sen-trate pan fi im race! wen im pass di finish line im caan si weh im deh!

He has a real medical issue.

For his privacy, I wont say more. The diagnosis s recent and they will work on it.

[Rudi]

He has a real medical issue.

For his privacy, I wont say more. The diagnosis s recent and they will work on it.

Well if he can run 9.83 with a serious medical condition God Bless him. Can you say whether this track or non-track related?.

[Islandman]

Whatever it is I am sure it has a psychological effect.

[Willi]

Well if he can run 9.83 with a serious medical condition God Bless him. Can you say whether this track or non-track related?.

Psyche problem. Affects everything.

Recall how some kids reacted to Common Entrance despite being prepared.

[Don1]

I think, it is extremely difficult to do. I am thinking that Bolt is not at his peak....coming down from it. Asafa and Guy should be more rested. I am thinking, Guy is coming off an injury and should not be able to put his best foot forward. Now Asafa could be peaking and if he can give as relaxed a performance as during his 9.72...he could lower his time.

So, to sum it up, I am thinking Asafa is the one more likely to create major damage. This race could assist him in getting the monkey off his back...9.70 - 9.69? ...and a win? ...and a big win it would be!

This run by Usain is astonishing!!

9.77 in the cold, AGAINST a 1.3m/s wind, with a terrible start??

Lawd Gad!! Almost as good a performance as the 9.69 in my book.

[Willi]

This run by Usain is astonishing!!

9.77 in the cold, AGAINST a 1.3m/s wind, with a terrible start??

Lawd Gad!! Almost as good a performance as the 9.69 in my book.

Better, in fact.

However, the WR may go tomorrow!

Usain Bolt powers past Asafa Powell
Usain Bolt won the battle of the world's fastest men in the Stade Roi Baudouin but he had to work hard to beat his compatriot Asafa Powell.

By Tom Knight in Brussels
Last Updated: 10:42PM BST 05 Sep 2008

Blowing hot and cold: Usain Bolt came from behind to defeat Asafa Powell Photo: Reuters
Billed as "the rocket race" for which everyone in this stadium rose to their feet, it was Powell who was first out of the blocks but if anyone if capable of chasing down the former world record holder, it is Bolt.

The Olympic champion and world record holder, who generates more excitement than any athlete in living memory, caught Powell with less than 20 metres to go, to cross the line in 9.77sec. It was a meeting record and yet, set against the astonishing mark of 9.69 Bolt set in the Olympic final, the time did not appear that quick. Take into account the headwind of 1.3m/sec, however, and what the 47,000 crowd saw here was a performance every bit as good.

It made a mockery of the conditions, which were cool and damp for this end-of-season Ivo Van Damme Memorial meeting, the last and the best of the summer's Golden League events.
It also fuelled speculation that with another winter's training behind him, Bolt could yet fulfil his coach Glen Mills' prediction that 9.52 is possible next year.
In the absence of the world champion, Tyson Gay, who withdrew the night before because of his fragile state of fitness, Nesta Carter was third, ahead of Michael Frater, as Jamaica's gold medal-winning and world record-breaking 4x100m team filled the first four places.
Bolt admitted he had a poor start. "I was sleeping," he said. "Asafa caught me off guard."

Powell countered: "With legs like his, he doesn't need a good reaction time. We could have broken the world record tonight in better weather but this showed again that Jamaica is the sprint capital of the world."

This was Bolt's last race in Europe before his triumphant return to Jamaica, where the party celebrating the country's six gold medals in the Bird's Nest Stadium is set to last for weeks and at least until Powell makes it home after races in Rieti tomorrow and Stuttgart next weekend.

Such is Powell's good form going into the Italian meeting where he set the world record at 9.74 last year, he warned his compatriot against complacency.Powell said: "Usain will be on his way home and I've told him to be prepared for bad news."

The happiest winner by far last night was Pamela Jelimo, the Olympic 800m champion from Kenya.

The 18-year-old, in her first season on the circuit, produced another brilliant performance to clock a meeting record of 1min 55.16sec. With that, she became the outright winner of the Golden League's $1 million jackpot when the only other contender, Blanka Vlasic, could finish only second in the high jump.

Apart from Martyn Rooney, who was an impressive second to Jeremy Wariner in the 400m, the British athletes had little more than supporting roles.

Meanwhile, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said yesterday that it would hear an appeal by the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee against the disqualification of Churandy Martina, after he had finished second behind Bolt in the 200m in Beijing.
Martina was spotted by the US team to have run out of his lane, an offence the NAOC accept, but they have appealed on the grounds that the protest was filed after the 30-minute deadline set by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

[Don1]

Better, in fact.

However, the WR may go tomorrow!.

Don't agree that the 9.77 was better than the 9.69 performance.

Considering - the 9.69 was done at the Olympics when it counted most, was a WR and with the celebrations at 90m ... track has never seen anything remotely like that.

[Karl]

Psyche problem. Affects everything.

Recall how some kids reacted to Common Entrance despite being prepared.

Some never break out of it!
I have seen it first hand and close up with some of our better referees. Bad a yaard...but 'deer in the headlights' when on International Matches....and they keep it up right until they retire. ...and then there were some who were 'miiiiiiiiles better' on the big occasions!

Bolt 'laps up' the atmoshere at the big meets. Asafa is intimdated at the biggest meets.

As someone said in an earlier post, he appears to have lightened up following the Olympics...although in this recent race it appears his form fell apart when Bolt drew near.

I