Michael Phelps celebrates his record-tying seventh gold medal
Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after winning 100m gold in world record breaking time
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Aug 16, 2009 Update: Usain Bolt. 9.58!
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Aug 20, 2008 update: Looks like CBC is catching up onto the comparison with “YOUR VIEW: Who is the best athlete at the Olympics – Phelps or Bolt?” I think this is a fun exercise and ultimately something good for both athletes’ profiles.
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For the first seven days of 2008 Beijing Olympics, I just LOVE Michael Phelps. My better half and I have watched every single one of his swims. And Michael’s 6 world record breaking performances were all spectacular! And we are very eager and looking forward to watching him attempting (and most likely) to break another world record and getting his EIGHT gold medals! [Update: Michael won EIGHT gold medals as expected. Great stuff.] What a great athlete.
Now, things changed this morning! Usain Bolt is my new LOVE! I had an unbelievable amount of fun watching him won the 100m gold and shattered the world and Olympic record. I love Usain’s easy going, happy, relax, and humble personality. And he is also an advertising and marketing genius in my book. Usain is so young and an obvious super athlete. I don’t think it is an over statement that he can pretty much break world records in the days and years to come. Check out some photos here, here, here, and this beautiful post here. Here is New York Times’ “Bolt Is World’s Fastest — by a Mile“.
I am sure Michael is a great guy but I can really feel how much fun Usain must be having after he won. And Usain is just a super-athlete and wonderful man in my book. Read this excerpt from CBC (emphasis added),
Canadian Donovan Bailey‘s long-standing Olympic record fell as a result of the race in front of over 90,000. Bailey of Oakville, Ont., ran to gold in 9.84 at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Bailey symbolically placed an imaginary crown on Bolt’s head after the race.
“I never knew how fast I was going,” Bolt told CBC Sports. “One aim was just to win and do what I have to do.”
Bailey said the sky’s the limit for the sprinter, who gave Jamaica its first ever gold in the event.
“He can absolutely run sub 9.6,” said Bailey.
“He’s doing things no other human being has ever done before,” he added.
When asked about his celebration before the finish line, which may have cost him some time, Bolt said he was concerned about winning more than running the fastest possible.
“Better to break it smaller than bigger, I would say,” he said. “[Then] you have a next time to break it.” [K: Love this mindset. Usain is going to show and share with us the fun of him breaking world records like it is nothing! Usain is so good that he can control his pace of world record breaking!]
[...] He said he took inspiration from American swimmer Michael Phelps.
“He’s working hard and he really wants it and that’s the same aim I’ve got,” said Bolt. “I really want it so I’m going out there and giving it my all.”
Here is an excerpt from Toronto Star “Jamaican Bolt sets 100m record”,
With a third of the race to go, Bolt had the luxury to look right, realize he was in a class all his own, outstretch his arms, and pound his chest as he crossed the line, slicing .03 off the record he set earlier this season.
Soon he settled and produced a signature move, lining up an imaginary bow and arrow and letting go of that now-famous imaginary bolt.
So confident was he that he already had done the same during the presentation for the race, too.
He looked like a wide-eyed giant, happy to take in the whole occasion ahead the race. Afterward, he became the happiest of Jamaicans with the biggest of grins, his canary yellow shirt disappearing in a sea of friends while reggae music blared.
[...] All for a guy who was hardly known outside his Caribbean nation at the start of the season.And he can make it even better – at least, Canadian sprinter and 1996 gold medallist Donovan Bailey thinks so.
“You haven’t seen nothing yet,” said Bailey, whose Olympic record of 9.84 seconds was obliterated by Bolt. “He can run 9.55.”
Both Michael and Usain are great athletes. If I had to pick one only, I will say Usain is a super-athlete and he is my King of 2008 Olympics.
Here is Usain’s run (in AP photos and voice overs).
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[...] I hope you don’t mind me liking Usain a bit more. (big [...]
[...] are quite smart in thinking like this as I previously commented, “Better to break it smaller than bigger, I would say,” he said. “[Then] you have a next time [...]
I LOVE both of them but I have to say that I love Bolt a bit more just because I know the thrill of running because I’m a runner myself.
Phelps is amazing, and I love swimming as well but I don’t do it as often as running so I can relate more to running.
littlestaroflove, Thanks for your comment. Interesting thought. Got me thinking that almost everyone can relate to running as no special equipment is required in this simplest sport of all.
Thanks for this post. I completely agree! I have enjoyed rewatching usain bolt’s 100m over and over, ever more inspired each time. Phelps is amazing, but Bolt is magic.
Thanks Bryan. You are right, Phelps is amazing (eight golds, seven world records), but Bolt is magic indeed. Like Donovan Bailey said of Bolt, “He’s doing things no other human being has ever done before”.
I don’t know which athlete I would choose. They are both in great shape, at the top of their game, and enjoying their success…they really seem to love the sport they are in.
I wonder, do you think future Olympians will just keep getting faster…or will someone eventually set an unbreakable record…
phelps is a very,very good swimmer, but bolt is above amazing hes magic he just owned everybody in his class
@brittany marie
You are right that they both love the sport they are in. But you may have to agree with me that Bolt perfected the funky jamaican happy dance that even Phelps can’t easily match without making him look funny. :)
Anyway, I just feel the joy more directly from Bolt. It is a difficult pick, it is like picking a favourite fruit or wine. At the end of the day, it is how you feel, I guess.
Thanks for your comment.
P.S. Very good philosophical point in, “… do you think future Olympians will just keep getting faster…or will someone eventually set an unbreakable record…”
I think (and hope) there isn’t a human created record that is unbreakable. 10 seconds used to be the “limit”. But humans have broken that record many time since.
You see, the previous 200m world record of 19.32 stood for 12 years and we are all so happy when it is broken 12 years later by 0.02 seconds. So I think there are still room for improvement. Now, how fast, or how low, I don’t know.
Better shoes, better tracks, better techniques, better trainings, even more genetically endowed athletes (than even Bolt) may be discovered, and all these makes a sport like 100m and 200m fun.
If a woman or man sets a record, I believe one day, another woman or man will break that record.
P.P.S. OK, OK, I know my last statement can be proven to be mathematically WRONG. But knowing it may be right for a few hundreds or even thousands of years is good enough for me. :)
@boltfanatic
Totally agree. Bolt just own the field right now. The margin of victory was spectacularly amazing.
Another amazing thing I notice was that Bolt’s competitors were happy for Bolt’s win and they didn’t seem to be just “diplomatically happy for him”. In the recent past, I remember seeing some competitions that everyone was way too serious and trying to psych each other out.
Thanks for your comment.
Phelps has the big edge, because he did this 2 olympics in a row. Bolt has alot to prove still. Longevity says alot. Can he do this for one or two more olympics? Phelps has 16 olympic medals, 14 gold, bolt has 3. Can Bolt win the 400? He needs to add another event in my opinion as well. And why are we talking like his 200 was so unbelievable? We saw somebody run a 19.3 a long time ago(M Johnson). He barely broke the record and he didnt hold up at all in the 200. The 100 was way more impressive. I don’t even think you can compare a guy that has only won 3 golds, esp when one is a relay, to a guy with 14 golds. Fact: Carl Lewis won all the same races as bolt, plus the long jump, over multiple olympics. Michael Johnson did a much harder double as well(200/400). Bolt did what has already been done. Phelps stands alone in his sport.
MAH, you’ve made some good points. But Usain is still my favourite for the reasons I’ve outlined above.
ummm MAH is wrong, Bolt did not do what was done before. You are speaking as a person who does not know his information. NEVER in an Olympics has a man broken three world records in a single Olympics. Carl one gold in three events yes, but he did not break or set three world records in an Olympics. Not only that, but Usain broke a record while decelerating, and NOT ONLY THAT he broke one of the most sacred records in Men’s track and field, Michael Johnson’s mind boggling 200 meter record of 19.32 while running INTO A HEADWIND. That’s right, the wind meter had a negative reading meaning he broke that record running with resistance. So really Usain has absolutely NOTHING to prove. His dominance has been clearly shown he could retire right now if he wanted to. But he won’t because he loves the sport. So MAH’s assessment shows a clear lack of information which I won’t knock him/her for. Just wanted to set the record straight.
Razard,
Thanks for your comment. Both Phelps and Blot are great athletes but Bolt has my heart. :) So much fun to watch him win. As Bailey would say, Bolt is just a happy kid.
I would go with Bolt. He competes in a sport that almost everyone on Earth can do so to be the best at running is more remarkable. Not everyone can swim, myself included, so its harder to relate.
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