Saturday, August 23, 2008

Bolt and relay

Bolt won his third gold of the Beijing Olympics in 4x100m relay race, thus helping in setting up the 3rd world record in sprint event. The quartet of Asafa Powell, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Usain Bolt completed the race in 37.10 seconds, as compared to 37.40s set earlier by the US.
I really don't know how the relay timings work and the technicalities that go into increasing speed, but I can straightway see the average time of a single partner to be 9.27s, surpassing the individual 100m WR of 9.69 by Bolt himself by a long distance. It means at least a couple of sprinters must have surpassed the WR easily.
It's amazing to see that the individual times are not mentioned in the relay races. For me, they epitomize the feeling of team spirit. You really have to marvel at the event which brings together the fastest racers of a country, each having to give their absolute best to bring home the Medal. One error, one off day and it's all gone.
The platform which brings together Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt to give their best for each other and their country must have inspire some awe. The two rivals supporting each other and wishing well for the other is magnificent. Let us savor this feeling of team spirit and toast to it.

2 comments:

g2 said...

the relay doesn't work the same way as the 100m singles because in the relay they start like 20 m behind and attain full speed before they take the baton at the start line and then run the 100m, hence the avg. 9.27

nice blog btw..

Reisender said...

@g2: yeah.. I saw the video later on. Awesome relay!
thanks btw..