And the winner is?
October 25th 2007 17:49
Here’s how I see it.
Unfortunately it is just too difficult to put the achievements of Owens into a modern context – does 10.3 in 19.36 equate to 9.6 now on a modern surface with modern equipment and training methods?
It’s just too hard to tell.
The same goes for Donovan Bailey and Jim Hines – if they had had full careers then their impact on the sport would have been much greater than what it is and certainly would have gone faster.
Their careers, like that of Owens are stories of what if?
So who wins out of the final 5 of Powell, Gatlin, Greene, Johnson and Lewis?
Could Asafa Powell hold his nerve long enough to deliver another perfectly executed 9.7x performance?
Could Ben Johnson get the type of start he achieved on the way to winning in Seoul?
If he couldn’t would fast finishers Carl Lewis and Justin Gatlin have enough over the last 40m to take the title or would Maurice Greene rise in the lead at 30m and hold off the rest like he did countless other times in his heyday?
Each man has their own particular weapon in a contest that boils down to as much about mental fortitude as flat out speed, Powell has the technique, Greene has the competitive edge, Gatlin the finishing speed and Lewis the start but only one man has that lethal combination of all 4, ladies and gentlemen the title of worlds fastest man ever goes to….
Ben Johnson.
It was he who produced a massive world record at the most crucial moment of his career, in the Olympic 100m final.
His start completely destroying the competition in the first 10 metres and with perfect technique his finishing speed was so great that even his bitter rival Carl Lewis could not get within 3 metres of him.
And his wasn’t a one off.
Several months earlier he had run the then world record of 9.83 in Rome, beating Lewis again with his typical lightning start and brutal top end speed.
Indeed the saddest thing about Johnson is of course the fact that his career effectively ended on that September day in Seoul.
After his drugs suspensions and the Dublin enquiry he was never again able to return to the pinnacle of sprinting but for the shortest time he was the peerless champion of humanity’s obsession with speed.
That my friends is why ‘Big Ben’ is the big cheese of sprinting.
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Sports Bar
Fret X
My money is on Jesse Owens, running out of blocks on a proper track with proper shoes...
He dominated... and if you hypothetically picked a winner... He is your man...
I fear people like Ben Johnson, fast he may have been, the drug cloud will always have an asterix next to this victory...
Love the debate though,... Your missing an obvious starter in that top 8 though... I can't believe you missed it to be honest..... He would definitely have medalled...
Barry.... The Cougar... Dawson!!!!
Poetry in motion