100 meter times

chris_bass

I was just reading something on usain bolt on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/40790508) and i noticed the fastest times this year, only 1 person has gone under 9.9 seconds. Are people slowing down? are tougher drugs laws slowing people down? or am i remembering things that didn't happen?

I'll admit i have never really followed athletics outside of the big events but i seem to remember the winner of most heats going under 9.9 let alone the winner.

verylonglegs

Is there a lot of new names in there though, as in younger guys who should get faster in future? Could just be a changing of the generations thing.

coopster_the_1st

From what I can see, it is a combinations of things:

Age(injuries) of the 4 main fast guys who were previously setting sub 9.9 times regularly (Bolt, Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell)
The latter two listed above have been caught for drugs/had recent drug bans, as has Yohan Blake who would have made the above 4 into a 5.
No new top class sprinters coming through in the last few season (Coleman may be about to change that)
Bolt no longer has the motivation to put the hard training in (See the programme 'I am Bolt' on BBC1 on Monday night)

rick_chasey

Chris Bass wrote:

I was just reading something on usain bolt on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/40790508) and i noticed the fastest times this year, only 1 person has gone under 9.9 seconds. Are people slowing down? are tougher drugs laws slowing people down? or am i remembering things that didn't happen?

I'll admit i have never really followed athletics outside of the big events but i seem to remember the winner of most heats going under 9.9 let alone the winner.

year after olympics is always slowest.

mouth

Rick Chasey wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

I was just reading something on usain bolt on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/40790508) and i noticed the fastest times this year, only 1 person has gone under 9.9 seconds. Are people slowing down? are tougher drugs laws slowing people down? or am i remembering things that didn't happen?

I'll admit i have never really followed athletics outside of the big events but i seem to remember the winner of most heats going under 9.9 let alone the winner.

year after olympics is always slowest.

I was gonna go with this.

dinyull

And me^

I think it'll have something to do with "peaking" for certain years - almost certainly Olympic years.

Like the track cycling team.

*edit, but I think it's also safe to assume tougher anti-doping laws have played their part too.