For the past 18 months, the 23-yr-old Jamaican Usain Bolt has dominated track & field with his mind-boggling speed and charm on and off the track. The sprinting sensation, who has taken the track and field world by storm, features prominently in sports conversation and writings about track, from the pages of Sport Illustrated magazine to the lips of NFL announcers to pop-culture and the US TV drama, “House.”
Sports enthusiasts, who are not track fans, as well as onlookers, who are not sports fans, are in awe of his raw speed. Bolts propensity to demolish world records with his calm and playful demeanor has made him a marketer’s dream and has placed him on the path to becoming a legend.
Bolt’s exploits on the track is well documented; he has established world records in the 100m in 9.58 secs and the 200m in 19.19, performing these remarkable feats at major championships. Bolt was the talk of the town at both the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin World Championships.
During his magnificent assault on the sprinting records, Bolt made his intention known publicly that he wants to become a legend in track and field. He now commands $250,000 for appearance fees and is a promoter’s dream since he always “shows up” at all meets for which he’s booked, despite the weather.
The lanky sprinter now has a bull-eye on his back as his rivals are taking aim to challenge his goal of becoming a legend. With Tyson Gay’s 9.69 secs (+2.0 m/s) performance in the 100m in Shanghai Sunday, September 25, the mission to challenge Bolt’s quest has begun in earnest. So what must Usain Bolt do to keep his ambitions on track?
Usain should continue his assault on the 100m and 200m world records and place them further out of reach at or below 9.48 and 19.00 seconds, respectively and move on to other challenges. Based on reports out of his camp and comments made his coach, Glenn Mills, in the media, these are not unrealistic times for the sprinting superstar. In addition, Bolt must avoid any “complacency bug” and stay undefeated in major championships over the next few years. He should make the next World Championships and the 2012 London Olympics his own party grounds. But he has to stay injury free and hungry, and never underestimate his rivals.
In the men’s 100m final in Berlin, all eight finalists, including Bolt, had sub-10-secs times. Bolt has set the bar so high (or low, whichever way you prefer to look at it) that everyone else has to step-up his game. To maintain and keep his desire of becoming a legend on track, Bolt will have to continue out-working his rivals.
The 400m is not a new event for Usain Bolt. As a 17-yr-old, he established the CARIFTA Games 400m record at 46.35 secs, which stood for six year until Grenada’s Kirani James set a new mark of 45.45 secs in April this year. Bolt has a lifetime best 45.28 secs, established in May 2007. A year later, in May 2008, he set the 100m world record at 9.72 secs at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. With his newly found speed and some strength work, Bolt could inch his way and eventually surpass the magic mark of 43.18 secs in the 400m set by Michael Johnson in August 1999.
The 400m event has been lackluster this year with no one breaking the 44.00-secs barrier. LaShawn Merritt, the reigning Olympics and World Champion, in anticipation of Bolt’s desire to run the 400m has issued the warning that he, Merritt, will pursue the 400m world record next season (2010). Bolt has a psychological advantage over Merritt as he defeated Merritt in all head-to-head battles in the 200m this past season. Bolt’s participation and success in breaking the 400m record would only solidify his ‘legend’ status.
Pursue the Long Jump
What better way to cement such a status than to go after and break one of the longest standing track & field records. The long jump record of 8.95m was set by USA’s Mike Powell in Tokyo in 1991. It can be argued that Bolt 6’5’’ frame can produce the speed, agility and power to surpass that mark. With the right technique and mindset, Bolt could definitely challenge this record. However, he would have to contend with strong competition from USA’s Dwight Phillips (PB 8.74m) and Panama’s Irving Saladino (PB 8.73m).
Should Bolt accomplish world records in the 400m and the long jump within the next five to 10 years while still holding records in the sprint double, he would certainly attain the status as a legend that he desires and the Bolt Effect in these events would be tremendous.