The Bolt effect

In Beijing, Usain Bolt set the 100m world record with a time of 9.69s. Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago finished second in a time of 9.89sec (a personal best) and third, in a time of 9.91sec, was Walter Dix of the US, again a personal best.

In the 200m, Bolt set a world record of 19.3sec, Shawn Crawford was placed second with a time of 19.96sec and Walter Dix again finished third with a time of 19.98sec.

In the 2009 World Champs, Bolt further improved the 100m record to 9.58. Tyson Gay of the US achieved a time of 9.71 in second place, which is the fastest time ever run by anyone beside Bolt himself. In third place, Asafa Powell recorded a time of 9.84sec.

In the 200m, Bolt set a new mark of 19.19sec. Equally notable was that the second-placed athlete, Alonso Edward, recorded a time of 19.81sec and third-placed Wallace Spearmon clocked 19.85sec.

What this tells you is that Bolt’s dominance and boundary pushing is spurring other athletes to go faster themselves. The silver and bronze medallists in the world champs would have shown their peers in the Olympics a clean pair of heels. It’s quite amazing to have such a mass step-change in sprint times in such a short period of time. Of course no-one is about to catch Bolt, but that his brilliance has resulted in such an immediate improvement for the other sprinters speaks volumes of the impact he’s having on athletics.

The world witnessed this effect when Roger Bannister broke the four-minute-a mile-barrier. Other runners suddenly found it in themselves to break the barrier too. In a way this might well be Bolt’s greatest achievement — elevating men’s sprinting to a new level.