I won’t go into too much detail here, because everything that has been said about about Tyson Gay is already out there on the web.
I have to admit, I am impressed how Tyson ran this race, and how he gave 100% as seen in the post race interview where he couldn’t catch his breath. This is a 200m, not a 400m! I like athletes giving their 100%. I can’t ask for more, right?
His middle 8.72 was the talk of the town, especially when trying to come up with the fastest 100 meter relay split of all time.
Names like Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Bob Hayes all come to mind.
- It was reported Usain Bolt’s Anchor Leg at the 2010 Penn Relays was 8.71 seconds.
- At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Asafa Powell’s split time was recorded at 8.70 seconds by the USTAF High Performance Registered Split Analysis team.
- At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Asafa Powell’s anchor split was 8.84 seconds.
- Carl Lewis’ anchor leg at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was 8.85 en route to a World Record of 37.40 seconds.
- “Bullet” Bob Hayes recorded a 8.5 second (hand time) 4×100 meter anchor relay leg at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Converted to FAT, that translates to 8.74 seconds.
But to get a good indication of a fast 100 fly split on a straight 200m “track”, you would need a camera at 20 meters, and another at 120 meters. This is 4x100m relay zone exchange. 10 meter acceleration, then a 20 meter passing zone where the 100m start line is halfway. Thus 100 + 10 + 10 = 120.
At the end of the day, it was good exposure to Track and Field. Like the video reported, I would love to see this type of race on the Las Vegas strip! Then again, there would be massive betting, too.
Here is that video again, in case you missed it:
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Hello Mr. Lee. I am unsure about the effect of the straight track as opposed to the curved(standard) track in regards to how it performance-wise affects an athlete. I realize particular scientific aspects such as centripetal force and moment of inertia come into play, but I’m still stumped. Especially because I’ve seen different takes on how Tyson’s time on the straight translates to a curve, if such a quantity could be ascertained. Some have said running a curve is easier because it catapults you onto the straightaway. Some say plausibly so, that the curve slows you down.
I myself tend to understand the latter, maybe because of bias. IDK. But do you know what the case is? Thank You in advance!!!
Re the 200m straight tun in Manchester, I think that if we assume the late great Bob Hayes ran 8.7 on the anchor in Tokyo, this is equal to a 8.55-8.60 in today’s standards, because the track there, was made of cinder!
Re running on a bend, I think there have only ever been two guys to break 10s on a bend in a 200m race – Bolt and Gay! Not even Michael Johnson managed it, or any of the dozens of men who run broken 20s for 200m. Tommie Smith ran 19.5 at sea level on a straight, when his 200m best was 20.0, so if we assume that there is a 0.4 or 0.5s loss of speed over a ‘curved’ 200m, then Gay’s 200m in Manchester only equates to about a 19.8, so for this reason, the time doesn’t really seem particularly impressive…..
(In fact, if Tommie Smith’s sea level best was 20.0s and Tyson Gay’s is 19.58, does this mean that Tyson should have run 19.2 or even 19.1 for the 200m straight?)
…….However, if Tommie Smith’s converted FAT was 19.74 (19.5 +0.24), then Tyson’s 19.41 equates to about 19.70 for the ‘curved’ 200m, which is great for this time of the season!
Tyson, keep up the good work!!!!
Actually, there is an old “rule of thumb” which equates a 1 second advantage of a modern synthetic track surface over the old cinder variety, (1 second per lap). So, if we extrapolate that ratio for 100 meters, we may have as much as a .25 second advantage in speed. (Bob Hayes’s 1964 Olympic relay leg).
Generally, there is a .4 second difference in a runner’s 100 meter time on a straight and their 100 meter time over a curve. Obviously, some runners negotiate the turn better than others and run more efficiently, (closer to their straight 100 time.
In passing, on the final leg of a 4×100 sprint relay, the anchor runs the first portion on a curve. So, the runner actually runs only about 87 meters in a straight line, (this would slightly slow their time).