When Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won the gold medal in the mens 100m on Saturday night, he did so pretty comfortably. Bolt started celebrating his victory with about 20 meters left in the race, yet somehow still managed to break his own world record by finishing in 9.69 seconds.
Imagine what time Bolt could have posted had he run hard the entire 100 meters? That’s what a lot of people are wondering right now, and some are even wondering if Usain slowed down on purpose. A lot of runners have clauses in their endorsement contracts that call for a nice bonus when they set a world record, and there are now rumors Bolt slowed down on purpose to make more money in the future.
From Darren Rovell’s SPORTSBIZ:
You see, the reason Usain Bolt didn’t push through and finish in 9.60 seconds instead of 9.69 is — as the rumor goes — because he’s smart. He didn’t want to kill his gravy train.
So, the conspiracy theory goes, that Bolt knew before the race that he had to win the race and take the gold, but not push it too much, otherwise he’d kill his opportunity at future bonuses.
“I wasn’t worried about the world record,” Bolt said after the race. “I didn’t come here to run a world record. I came here to win.”
Rovell tried to contact Usain’s agent to find out if he did get any such bonuses for setting a world record, but couldn’t get a hold of him. Rovell then goes on to say that Bolt did get a $1.8 million bonus from Digicel when he broke the record back in May. Though Darren doesn’t know if that check was in American or Jamaican green (if Jamaican, it was worth about $25,000 American).
Still, the idea that Bolt slowed down for the sole purpose of allowing him to break the record again later seems a bit too far fetched to me. Maybe if Usain had stopped to make a sandwich at about the 50-meter mark, or began posing for pictures with fans at the 75-meter mark, I’d buy it.
11:26 am on August 18th, 2008
He certainly did a good job of showboating. I think the guy is just cocky. It irritated me enough that I made a motivational-poster about it:
http://www.nuttersmark.com/blog/sports-and-fitness/beijing-olympics-motivational-posters
6:30 pm on August 18th, 2008
There’s nothing wrong with showboating if you back it up. He showed he is the fastest man in the world and did it with ease. If you can’t beat him then any ridicule is just jealousy. Who says you can’t compete and win while enjoying the moment at the same time?
11:11 pm on August 18th, 2008
Last sprinter I saw that looked that impressive was Ben Johnson. Hmmmm……
7:56 am on August 19th, 2008
Is Brooks one of these insulated little snowflakes living in his mommy’s basement?
Of course Bolt will sandbag at every opportunity.
Performance bonus + ability to incrementally improve result = sandbagged effort.
Brooks, put on your pants, comb your hair and come into the light with the rest of us.
1:37 pm on August 19th, 2008
That was an incredible race. I say if he wants to showboat, let him showboat. He obviously has the speed to back it up.