# IS USAIN BOLT THE GREATEST EVER SPRINTER



## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

*IS USAIN BOLT THE GREATEST EVER SPRINTER*​
YES 13887.34%NO2012.66%


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

is usain bolt the greatest sprinter ever, remember we have had some greats over the years, lindford christie, carl lewis ect ect


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## coldo (Dec 7, 2008)

Fastest = Greatest in that game, so yeah, I think he is.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

At first id say yes without a doubt...because of his times...

BUT.

Im not so sure, because with every era there is ussually someone that stands out, raises the bar.

Obviously his times are faster, so you could say he is better than them.

But true success isnt measured by the clock, true success is measured by medals!

He already has 3 olympic golds, 100m sprint, 200m and 4x100m relay.

So, if he can win both the 100m and 200m in the next olympics i would say he is the greatest ever.

Right now, someone like carl lewis beats him on the medals front by quite a long way.

World records are there to be broken, whilst usain's record's might not be broken for a very very long time to come (same as what they said for michael johnson's 200m record), they will still ultimately be broken (probably) in the future. So the only real way to determine who is the 'greatest of all time' is to see how many olympic gold's and world championship gold's they have won.

If we are judging on accomplishments and trophies then usain is not yet the greatest sprinter ever, ie at the top of the hall of fame. But in a few years (2012) he could very well be.

Infact id go as far to say that he has the potential to be the greatest sprinter ever and obviously he is the current best sprinter...if he just stays on track and glides to 2012 to take the olympic gold then he will become the best sprinter in history.


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## eurgar (May 5, 2008)

He is faster than anyone before him and probably anyone that will come after so yes.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

coldo said:


> Fastest = Greatest in that game, so yeah, I think he is.


Not really mate, not as simple as that.

Its like saying in bodybuilding biggest = best in game, therefore biggest = best ever.

Then why do most people say arnold is best bodybuilder ever?

It is all relative to the era they are from.

Performance always increases over time. Records get broken. Ultimately bolt's records will probably get broken as well (pmsl might take 20 years though).

Success is truly measured by accomplishments. Usain has already won the world champs and olympic gold in 100m, but other sprinters have done that feat in the past as well.

I do not think (will check) to see if any 100m sprinter has won the olympic gold in 2 consecutive olympics. If bolt does that, then he goes down in history as the greatest.

You cant measure 'greatest' by time, because in any era the times will be different. You measure by accomplishment.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

eurgar said:


> He is faster than anyone before him and probably anyone that will come after so yes.


Didnt read anything i said obviously.

So you think he will be faster than anyone in 50 years time?

50 years ago sub 10 seconds was deemed totally unimaginable.

In 50 years from now we could see sub 9 seconds. So will that sprinter be the 'greatest of all time' then?

You can only measure it by accomplishment. World records will get broken. It is the gold medals that remain in the history books.


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## Kezz (Sep 3, 2007)

he may not be the greatest by accomplishment,,, but he has acomplished the fastest time so i know who i would put my money on, lol


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Sorry guys, i had to check...the only other athlete to win 2 consecutive olympic golds (it has been done once before) since the start of the modern olympic games 100m sprint (1896) is carl lewis.

Seeing as carl also held records and gold medals for so many other events as well..i have to put carl as number 1 of all time FOR THE MOMENT.

I do think that usain can beat this though, i think he will beat this!


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## Davo (Sep 11, 2007)

Without doubt imo


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## Miller (Jan 19, 2009)

Tyson Gay who came a very very distant 2nd actually broke the American record, think of all those American sprinters, Greene, Lewis etc

Bolt made the rest of the field look slow, he was head and shoulders above them


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## Seyyed-Merat (Sep 1, 2007)

Fastest yes he is, greates IMO no, the greatest I think in the history of the 100m is Jesse owens but thats my personal favourite.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Kezz said:


> he may not be the greatest by accomplishment,,, but he has acomplished the fastest time so i know who i would put my money on, lol


So you're saying also that:

Marcus ruhl = better bodybuilder than arnold (bigger)

Lewis hamilton = better racing car driver than ayrton senna (faster lap times)

vitali klitscho = better boxer than muhammad ali (more ko's, less losses)

Also with regards to sprinting...you're saying that tim montgomery (who held the world record a few years back that wasnt beaten for a year or two) was a better sprinter than carl lewis as well?

Times will change every era. But accomplishments are what go down in history.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Britbb said:


> So you're saying also that:
> 
> Marcus ruhl = better bodybuilder than arnold (bigger)
> 
> ...


Slightly confused as to how the bodybuilding/sprint analogy works.

To me, it doesn't have any foundation.

Bodybuilding as you know isn't about who is the biggest there are many variables.

Sprinting however is brutally simple- first over the line wins.

By his times he is the best sprinter ever so far.

I see some merit in the argument he doesn't have as many medals as others, but I think that this is just a matter of time.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Miller said:


> Tyson Gay who came a very very distant 2nd actually broke the American record, think of all those American sprinters, Greene, Lewis etc
> 
> Bolt made the rest of the field look slow, he was head and shoulders above them


So what...carl lewis won 25 years ago.

How can carl lewis' performance of 25 years ago be compared to that of one today?

Carl has won 12 or more olympic golds in his career. The record for any track and field athlete of all time.

Including olympic gold in 84 and 88!

Lets compare bodybuilders of 1984 against ronnie coleman, dexter jackson and heath shall we.

Would that be a fair comparison?

Its also like saying 'whos a better football player, marradonna or christiano ronaldo...but ronaldo earns more money so he must be a better player.'

It all depends how you measure success.

The only true way you can measure success in sport is to look through the history books and unbiassedly see who has won the most.

In sprinting this is by far carl lewis (who has incidently won the most gold medals out of any track and field athlete ever).

Usain bolt has the ability to beat this, but he is not yet 'greatest ever'. He still has to win more medals to do that.


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## Miller (Jan 19, 2009)

Britbb said:


> So what...carl lewis won 25 years ago.
> 
> How can carl lewis' performance of 25 years ago be compared to that of one today?
> 
> ...


you're getting the comparisons all wrong mate, you say 'The only true way you can measure success in sport is to look through the history books and unbiassedly see who has won the most'

so by your reckoning, Phil Neville is a better player than Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard?


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## Kezz (Sep 3, 2007)

thats all well and good, and i know what you are getting at, but in the pure light of day he is faster than any of them and will continue to be so... well most probarbly, lol for a while anyway!!


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## Miller (Jan 19, 2009)

Britbb said:


> So what...carl lewis won 25 years ago.
> 
> How can carl lewis' performance of 25 years ago be compared to that of one today?
> 
> .


How can't it, a man, a track and a pair of trainers, the trainers are a bit different, granted but what else is so out there?

Plus, it can be compared also because it's not the people they're running against, its the clock, and bolt is 0.4 sec faster than Lewis


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

LittleChris said:


> Slightly confused as to how the bodybuilding/sprint analogy works.
> 
> To me, it doesn't have any foundation.
> 
> ...


OMG I CANT BELIEVE HOW PEOPLE CAN NOT SEE MY ARGUMENT!!!!!!!

DO YOU NOT SEE THAT EVERY ERA THE TIMES GET BETTER AND BETTER?

EVERY ERA NEW WORLD RECORDS GET BROKEN!

So you are saying that quite simply any new world record holder in the 100m is the 'greatest sprinter ever'.

Totally ignoring the world record holders of the past, totally ignoring MEDALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

Look at my other anaologies then if not bodybuilding:

Vitali klitscho has more ko's and lost less times than muhhamad ali, so is he a better boxer?

Lewis hamilton has had a few faster lap times than ayrton senna had, is he a better racing car driver?

Was tim montgomery the best ever sprinter when he had the world record about 4 years back?

Sprinting is not about 'fastest time = greatest ever'.

Its about who can get the fastest time at that moment in that era in time AT THE RACE!

The greatest sprinter ever is the person who wins the most races in their era, can you see?

In 20 years time people will be beating usain bolts times. In 50 years time everyone might be beating usain bolt's times. Does this instantly make all of them better sprinters in a 'hall of fame' than usain bolt was back in his era?

The question is asked 'who is the greatest ever sprinter'.

Not 'who is the fastest ever sprinter'.

There is a massive difference. Otherwise we can just forget any champion of yesteryear or any great champions of other era's who were totally dominant (the usain bolt's of that era, or even greater than him in that era), and just focus on the current guy with the best time.

*In 1896 the winning 100m time was 12 seconds. Tom burke goes down in history as winning the first ever 100m sprint at the modern olympic games. Does this mean though that county level sprinters these days are higher up in the 'hall of fame' than tom burke who won the first ever olympic gold?*

And now back to bodybuilding. I would say i have a better physique than the first ever mr universe winner john grimek. Im sure most people on here would probably agree. But would i ever say that i am a 'greater bodybuilder than john grimek was'? HELL NO!

In terms of 'greatness' john grimek is the first person in the hall of fame, like steve reeves. I am fuk all right now. But i still look better than he did back in the 1950's, THATS BECAUSE ITS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT ERA.

Can you see the point?

Otherwise any new world record holder = greatest athlete ever in that sport.

World records get broken, olympic gold's go down in history!


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Britbb said:


> OMG I CANT BELIEVE HOW PEOPLE CAN NOT SEE MY ARGUMENT!!!!!!!
> 
> DO YOU NOT SEE THAT EVERY ERA THE TIMES GET BETTER AND BETTER?
> 
> ...


 :lol:

I would reply but to be honest you seem incapable of debating. Re-read your posts and you will see just how many times you have contradicted yourself. :beer:


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## Miller (Jan 19, 2009)

Britbb said:


> Vitali klitscho has more ko's and lost less times than muhhamad ali, so is he a better boxer?
> 
> Lewis hamilton has had a few faster lap times than ayrton senna had, is he a better racing car driver?


 you cant compare either

a, Vitali is fighting different fighters than Ali

b, Hamilton is driving a car which is faster than Senna's

Bolt is faster running down a track than anyone else ever, same tracks, same atmosphere, easily comparible


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## anabolic ant (Jun 5, 2008)

he frikkin is now...watched the 100m finals at berlin a few hours ago....fcuking 9.58 seconds....he is as fast as a fcuking bullet!!!!

sh*t....tyson gay got 9.71 and he was a couple metres behind!!!!

wont be long before folk are all running 10:00secs standard....and these fcukers are -9seconds...

the standard is shooting up high very quick these days!!!!

glad to see asafa powell back in!!!

dwayne chambers hit a quick 10seconds....only 1 man over 10seconds in the whole line-up!!!!

apart from super cool genes...do we think there is a winny stack or something quick acting in there?

damn...whatever it is,those guys are quick and usain bolt is the fastes fecking best out there,that record will stand for at least a couple of years!!!!

but as for the greatest...nope...not by far...look up and see brittBB's post...he has named a great of that time...look at jesse owens,against all odds in the 36 olympics at berlin,nazi germany...look at say carl lewis,multi tasker,not only the 100m &200m but best long jumper too!!!

best sprinter...not really yet,cos he has too much to live up to amongst all the other athletes and greats out there!!!!!

give him more time and more achievements,see how he pans out!!!


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

These comparrisons only serve to complicate things and aren't needed.

You run 100m, the distance never changes (unlike F1)

The fastest person wins the race

By logic, if you break the world record you are the fastest sprinter in the world.

Now, whether that makes you the greatest sprinter in the world is clearly a contentious point and depends on your definition; is it by time, medals won, the competition they beat et cetera.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Miller said:


> How can't it, a man, a track and a pair of trainers, the trainers are a bit different, granted but what else is so out there?
> 
> Plus, it can be compared also because it's not the people they're running against, its the clock, and bolt is 0.4 sec faster than Lewis


And lewis won 25 years ago.

You are comparing sports from 25 years ago.

So heres another comparison.

Who is a greater sprinter out of these 2 (who deserves to be higher in the hall of fame):

1. Tom burke, the first man to ever win olympic gold 100m in the modern olympics. 12 seconds was his time.

2. My mate who used to run for a club and v high county level who ran 10.26 seconds a few years ago (over 100 years after tom burke).

Out of those 2, who do you feel is the 'greater sprinter'.

According to this forum then, tom burke who won olympic gold was useless and shouldnt even be in the hall of fame because county level sprinters these days run faster times than he does.

You cant compare 2 different era's.

In his day, carl lewis was the same as usain bolt. Except he won medals in long jump (held record in that for around 10 years or something silly like that) and other events.

To simply say such and such (25 years later) has ran a faster time, so hes the greatest ever is a very poor way of looking at 'greatest ever' in my opinion. Performance changes every era.

Look at the progression of bodybuilders, if we take a newly turned ifbb pro today, lets say brandon curry who won the npc last year.

Put brandon curry against arnold schwarzenegger. Brandon would beat him because brandon has a better physique (not who has a 'nicer' physique), but a better physique in bodybuilding terms.

So by the method that members are talking about this means brandon curry = a greater bodybuilder than arnold schwarnezegger?


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## Incredible Bulk (Sep 19, 2007)

for the yank to beat the WR tonight by 0.01 seconds and still come 2nd losing by 2 meters at least... takes some beating!

greatest ever...time will tell but Bolt is breaking records for fun and i dont think we have seen the best of him yet.

100m in 9.50 i think easy


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

anabolic ant said:


> he frikkin is now...watched the 100m finals at berlin a few hours ago....fcuking 9.58 seconds....he is as fast as a fcuking bullet!!!!
> 
> sh*t....tyson gay got 9.71 and he was a couple metres behind!!!!
> 
> ...


Exactly mate.

Jesse was someone special, im not really counting against carl lewis because there are other factors envolved with his 'greatness' as a sprinter (emotional and political). So im just mentioning carl lewis because he won the most medals and is the only ever sprinter to win 2 consecutive 100m olympic golds.

Carl lewis was the usain bolt of the day. Its all very well saying that usain has faster times. But totally ignoring the era in which they raced.

Of course usain bolt has faster times, because hes running 25 years after carl.

So by this method, we should then say that EVERY SPRINTER IN THAT 100M FINAL WE SAW IS A 'GREATER' SPRINTER THAN CARL LEWIS?

Because they all have ran faster than he did in their career.

So not only usain bolt, but also guys who have never won anything in sprinting at all on the world scale are higher up than carl lewis in the 'all time greats' list because they run faster.

Doesnt make sense. You cant compare someone in an era 25 years ago by his times...you can only compare by accomplishment. Of course the times are going to be slower.

EDIT...For the record, i do think he will BECOME the greatest sprinter ever! But you can only earn that title when you are the most accomplished and won the most races.


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## dixie normus (May 11, 2008)

Its difficult to compare different eras.

But tonight Bolt beat the world record on what has a reputation as a 'slow' track by the biggest margin since timing to 100th of a second began.

Last year he broke MJ's 200m record which Carl Lewis never held despite being an accomplished 200m runner.

Asafa powell has run the most sub 10 sec races but wasn't close tonight despite a fairly decent 9.84.


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## pea head (May 28, 2008)

How does Bolt compare to the run of Ben Jonhsons ?

Bearing in mind i am not talking about WR time here,for the simple reason height diff,Bolt 6ft 5. = bigger strides=faster time as compared to BJ who was a lot smaller.

And lets face it,as good as Bolts run was/is....imo didnt shock the world as much as when BJ did the pack...i can still see those bulging eyeballs geared up to the hilt staring down the track.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

is he the greatest sprinter ... yes as he has the 100m record. which is the pinnacle of sprinting

if you want a bb analogy, is ronnie coleman the greatest bodybuilder, then yes as he holds the most olympia titles which is the pinnacle of bodybuilding.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

BigDom86 said:


> is he the greatest sprinter ... yes as he has the 100m record. which is the pinnacle of sprinting
> 
> if you want a bb analogy, is ronnie coleman the greatest bodybuilder, then yes as he holds the most olympia titles which is the pinnacle of bodybuilding.


Simple logic. You haven't failed me yet Private Dom :beer:


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

yessir!


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## MaKaVeLi (Aug 12, 2008)

BigDom86 said:


> is he the greatest sprinter ... yes as he has the 100m record. which is the pinnacle of sprinting
> 
> if you want a bb analogy, is ronnie coleman the greatest bodybuilder, then yes as he holds the most olympia titles which is the pinnacle of bodybuilding.


Actually Lee Haney holds as many Mr O titles as Ronnie


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

didnt know that. then they are joint top then. until someone equals usains then he will be top


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Oh dear. Im not getting envoved with this now.

According to uk-m members then...

Every single sprinter in the final is 'greater' than carl lewis was.

Every single sprinter in that final (even though most have won nothing) is greater than jesse owens was.

And this infact sums it up for me, the complete ignorance of uk-m (sorry dom to have to do this to you, i even repped you earlier for helping me out, but have got to correct you here):



> is he the greatest sprinter ... yes as he has the 100m record. which is the pinnacle of sprinting
> 
> if you want a bb analogy, is ronnie coleman the greatest bodybuilder, then yes as he holds the most olympia titles which is the pinnacle of bodybuilding.


WRONG!

An olympia title = A SANDOW MEDAL!

A world record does not equal a medal!

An olympic gold medal = equivalent of a sandow medal.

The world record holder is not the 'greatest sprinter ever'. They are the 'fastest' on that day, in that one race on that moment in time IN THAT ERA. How the hell people can compare sprinters from totally different era's and say one is better than the other because he has better times is fuking ridiculous, of course he has better times, HES AROUND 25 YEARS LATER...EVERYONE HAS BETTER TIMES 25 YEARS LATER!

The 'greatest ever' is the sprinter who has accomplished the most.

Ronnie is the greatest ever bodybuilder because he has won the most olympia sandows (combined with other trophies) as lee haney also won 8 as well, but won less other trophies.

So how does ron winning the most olympia shows = the same as usain having the fastest time ever?

TOTALLY WRONG!

How it works is like this:

Ron has most titles so gets compared to THE SPRINTER WITH THE MOST TITLES!

The pinnacle in sprinting is not to be the world record holder BUT TO WIN AT THE OLYMPICS! TO BE OLYMPIC CHAMPION!

Carl lewis won olympic gold twice, two consecutive years in 100m (as well as 200m, relays, long jump etc).

Usain has done it once.

So who is the 'greater sprinter'. Who is 'greatest in the hall of fame':

(Pmsl here, incidently carl lewis's world record in indoor long jump is still the world record even today after being set in 1984, 25 years ago! His outdoor long jump world record stood for over 10 years!)

So here we go:

Carl lewis =

1984, 100m olympic gold

1984, 200m olympic gold

1984, 4x100m olympic gold

1984, long jump, olympic gold

1988, 100m olympic gold

1988, long jump, olympic gold

1988, 200m olympic silver

1992, 4x100m, olympic gold

1992, long jump, olympic gold

1996, long jump, olympic gold

1983, 100m, world champs gold

1983, long jump, world champs gold

1983, 4x100m, world champs gold

1987, 100m, world champs gold

1987, long jump, world champs gold

1987, 4x100m, world champs gold

1991, 100m, world champs gold

1991, 4x100m, world champs gold

1991, long jump, world champs silver

Now for usain bolt:

2008, 100m olympic gold

2008, 4x100m olympic gold

2008, 200m olympic gold

2009, 100m world champs gold

2009, 200m, world champ (dont know yet but probably gold)

2007, 200m world champs silver

2007, 4x100m, world champs silver

That is both the athletes compared.

Make your own decission on who deserves at this stage to be 'greatest ever'!

Im out.


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## IanStu (Apr 12, 2009)

interesting debate here....but I have to say I believe it is quite simple....in a race if you win you are the best......

He is the fastest man over 100m that has ever lived,,,,it doesnt matter that he doesnt have as many medals as others because he hasnt had time to win em yet.

So yes he is the greatest ever sprinter...without a doubt


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## eurgar (May 5, 2008)

Britbb said:


> Didnt read anything i said obviously.
> 
> So you think he will be faster than anyone in 50 years time?
> 
> ...


I posted the same time as you mate.

Agree with what you say to some degree, I cant see anyone being able to make the same advances in the next 50 years given how much things have moved on in the last 50 years, sport science, nutrition/supps, physio e.t.c

I think he will break his WR again, he has said he is capable of 9.4 I think

definitely sub 9.5. And I can see that record standing for a very long time

Ok he might not of accomplished as much as past athletes in terms of medals, but I do believe that barring serious injury he can accomplish as much and more than those before him.


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## dixie normus (May 11, 2008)

Britbb said:


> Oh dear. Im not getting envoved with this now.
> 
> According to uk-m members then...
> 
> ...


take away Carls long jump medals and he's not that far ahead given that bolt will not be challenged for the next 4-6 years. There are no juniors coming through at the moment looking likely to do it. Everyone knew of Bolt's potential at 15 years old.

If Bolt gets gold in the 200 and the relay he is halfway to CL's gold total already


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Carl lewis =

1984, 100m olympic gold

1984, 200m olympic gold

1984, 4x100m olympic gold

1984, long jump, olympic gold

1988, 100m olympic gold

1988, long jump, olympic gold

1988, 200m olympic silver

1992, 4x100m, olympic gold

1992, long jump, olympic gold

1996, long jump, olympic gold

1983, 100m, world champs gold

1983, long jump, world champs gold

1983, 4x100m, world champs gold

1987, 100m, world champs gold

1987, long jump, world champs gold

1987, 4x100m, world champs gold

1991, 100m, world champs gold

1991, 4x100m, world champs gold

1991, long jump, world champs silver

Now for usain bolt:

2008, 100m olympic gold

2008, 4x100m olympic gold

2008, 200m olympic gold

2009, 100m world champs gold

2009, 200m, world champ (dont know yet but probably gold)

2007, 200m world champs silver

2007, 4x100m, world champs silver

That is both the athletes compared.

Make your own decission on who deserves at this stage to be 'greatest ever'!


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

dixie normus said:


> take away Carls long jump medals and he's not that far ahead given that bolt will not be challenged for the next 4-6 years. There are no juniors coming through at the moment looking likely to do it. Everyone knew of Bolt's potential at 15 years old.
> 
> If Bolt gets gold in the 200 and the relay he is halfway to CL's gold total already


So that makes him greater than carl lewis already does it?

If bolt gets the 200 gold and the relay it gives him HALF of what carl lewis got...

So that makes him the greatest ever does it?

Carl lewis was also the world record holder in his day.

World records get beaten all the time.

By this train of thought...the next person who beats usain bolt = greatest sprinter ever.

So the greatest sprinter ever is simply the world record holder.

Sorry guys in my opinion load of bollox. Ask a serious athlete if he would rather be world record holder, or an olympic gold champion.

WHERE WERE ALL YOU GUYS SAYING 'ASAFA POWELL IS THE GREATEST SPRINTER EVER'????

Asafa powell had the world record for a while, so why was no one saying he was the greatest ever then?

I'll tell you why...cos usain come along and won all the MEDALS at the olympics.

Just like carl lewis came along and cleaned up in the olympics of another era.

Sandow = 1st place

Olympic gold = 1st place

World record = best time set for that race.

Comparing world records from 25 years ago to today is pathetic.

Actually im quite shocked at the answers and lack of logic i see in this thread. 'Hes ran the fastest therefore hes the greatest sprinter ever.'

Its like saying that dwayne chambers = a greater sprinter (higher in hall of fame) than linford christie was because dwayne has ran a faster time. TOTAL NONSENSE!

Gold medals are what count.

Oh...btw...

My mate runs the 100m faster than jesse owens did. My mate is GREATER THAN JESSE OWENS ISNT HE?


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

why does he have to win the most medals to be the best sprinter?

surely the fastest sprinter in the world ever, is the best sprinter ever? regardless of medals etc as that would depend on the competition and who he is up against. gold is just a measure of his performance against others. whereas a world record is exactly that, doenst matter what others have done


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## Miller (Jan 19, 2009)

Britbb said:


> Carl lewis =
> 
> 1984, 100m olympic gold
> 
> ...


 you've said all the way through this topic that you can't compare different era's

now you've gone and done it

well done, you've just invalidated everything you've said


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Why have you included the long jump medals?! :lol:

Also, I hate to point out the blindingly obvious, but look at the periods you are comparing. One is markedly shorter in years than the other.

If current form is anything to go by then your argument appears to fall flat on its face.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

BigDom86 said:


> why does he have to win the most medals to be the best sprinter?
> 
> surely the fastest sprinter in the world ever, is the best sprinter ever? regardless of medals etc as that would depend on the competition and who he is up against. gold is just a measure of his performance against others. whereas a world record is exactly that, doenst matter what others have done


NO mate.

There can only ever be one world record holder.

You are basically saying that the greatest sprinter ever is only the world record holder.

But carl lewis also broke world records IN HIS ERA!

If you look at performance over time, perfomance goes up steadily over time. Times will increase but you are measured in the history books by competition against the rest in the world.

Everyone says 'what if arnold were around today'...

SO...what if carl lewis were around today?

Carl lewis with todays technology, todays drugs, todays supplements, todays nutrition, todays training?

Maybe he would smoke usain bolt.

People say 'if arnold were around today with todays sport knowledge hed smoke everyone.'

So look at carl lewis, what if he was around today?

Compare them equally.

The only way to compare equally from different era's is to compare how many times theyve beaten their opposition.

I post again:

Carl lewis =

1984, 100m olympic gold

1984, 200m olympic gold

1984, 4x100m olympic gold

1984, long jump, olympic gold

1988, 100m olympic gold

1988, long jump, olympic gold

1988, 200m olympic silver

1992, 4x100m, olympic gold

1992, long jump, olympic gold

1996, long jump, olympic gold

1983, 100m, world champs gold

1983, long jump, world champs gold

1983, 4x100m, world champs gold

1987, 100m, world champs gold

1987, long jump, world champs gold

1987, 4x100m, world champs gold

1991, 100m, world champs gold

1991, 4x100m, world champs gold

1991, long jump, world champs silver

Now for usain bolt:

2008, 100m olympic gold

2008, 4x100m olympic gold

2008, 200m olympic gold

2009, 100m world champs gold

2009, 200m, world champ (dont know yet but probably gold)

2007, 200m world champs silver

2007, 4x100m, world champs silver

That is both the athletes compared.

Make your own decission on who deserves at this stage to be 'greatest ever'!


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

mate i enjoy debating. but i dont see how different eras have to come into it. maybe this thread should be is usain bolt the best sprinter of this era then, which then again id say yes.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

You are flogging a dead horse mate.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Miller said:


> you've said all the way through this topic that you can't compare different era's
> 
> now you've gone and done it
> 
> well done, you've just invalidated everything you've said


What?

Ive compared the medals theyve collected.

A medal is a medal. A first place.

Of course you can comapre medals.

You cant compare times because they are in different era's.

Back to your football then.

Would you say that maybe the real madrid team of the 50's (puskus, di stefano etc) was maybe the 'greatest club team ever'.

Or how about brazil of 1970 with pele etc as the best football team ever.

So lets put brazil of 1970 against a current day man u...theyd probably get spanked.

THEY ARE BOTH IN DIFFERENT ERA'S.

So the only thing you can measure are medals and accomplishments.

Little chris. Carl lewis has achieved way more than usain bolt. In his day everyone was saying the same (if not more) about carl lewis.

The reason i added his long jump achievements is because he won olympic gold in 3 consecutive olympics with the long jump, pretty fuking amazing!

Until usain bolt wins more gold medals in the 'sprint related categories' than carl lewis has won, he is not the 'greatest ever'.

*If someone wants to say that times = the only thing in determining a sprinter (nothing about era), then my mate is far greater than jesse owens was, because he has a faster time than jesse's was 60 years ago.*


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

LittleChris said:


> You are flogging a dead horse mate.


Chris, my mate runs faster than jesse owens did when he won his olympic gold.

Is my mate a better sprinter than jesse owens was?

By your reasoning he is?

Show me this dead horse pmsl...

If you realistically think that my mate is a better runner than jesse owens was (just because now, 60 years later, he runs a faster time)...you have gotta be fukin kiddin me.

Chris...should my mate sam (county level sprinter) be higher in the 'hall of fame' than jesse owens?


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

depends what an individual classes "greatest ever" as. in my eyes in terms of sprinting greatest ever is down to individual time, in my opinion the fastest time is the greatest ever, this is just how im defining it and for me.

if someone asked me who is the greatest ever striker, id say the one who has scored the most goals.

if someone asked me whos the greatest batter (baseball) id say the one who has scored the most home runs.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

i have contradicted myself, i wont say where though


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

BigDom86 said:


> depends what an individual classes "greatest ever" as. in my eyes in terms of sprinting greatest ever is down to individual time, in my opinion the fastest time is the greatest ever, this is just how im defining it and for me.
> 
> if someone asked me who is the greatest ever striker, id say the one who has scored the most goals.
> 
> if someone asked me whos the greatest batter (baseball) id say the one who has scored the most home runs.


So dom...who should appear higher on the list of all time great sprinters.

My mate sam or jesse owens (who won olympic gold in 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump at hitlers berlin olympics)...

Jesse owens ran the 100m in 10.3, but my mate has ran it in 10.26.

So by your reasoning my mate is higher in the all time greats list than jesse owens right?

He does run a faster time afterall than jesse did?


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

yep. if he is recognized as a sprinter i guess so


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

BigDom86 said:


> yep. if he is recognized as a sprinter i guess so


Cool.

So my mate (whose never won a thing except a school sports day race) is higher on the all time great's list of sprinters than jesse owens...

Thanx to the logic of uk-m in this thread



> You are flogging a dead horse mate.


Yes quite! 

And according to the logic of those telling me this, my mate sam should appear higher in the hall of fame and all time greats in sprinting history ever than jesse owens should.

Very logical indeed.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

but hes not a sprinter your friend in terms of the public eye, as hes never competed in the olympics, athletics finals etc etc. i dont know your probably right. cant be bothered anymore tbh.

if the title was "is usain bolt the greatest sprinter of this era" would you agree?


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## dongrammar (Apr 12, 2009)




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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

BigDom86 said:


> but hes not a sprinter your friend in terms of the public eye, as hes never competed in the olympics, athletics finals etc etc. i dont know your probably right. cant be bothered anymore tbh.
> 
> if the title was "is usain bolt the greatest sprinter of this era" would you agree?


No...my mate has competed at county level.

County and also at national level, not internationally.

He is a sprinter and takes it v seriously.

However dom, if you were asking is usain bolt the greatest sprinter of the era i would agree totally.

I would say that the only sprinter EVER to (so far) be higher in the hall of fame than him would be carl lewis because of his achievements.

Bolt's records will be broken by others in the future as well, world records will always be broken.

But if carl lewis or jesse owens were around today, with today's technolody/drugs/nutrition, they would probably be giving usain bolt a run for his money as well, maybe beating him.

That is why we can only compare those from the same era.

I think usain will beat carl lewis' sprinting achievements in the future, that will make him the greatest sprinter ever. But until he does it, he isnt the 'greatest ever'.

He is the greatest of this era and can also continue to get better. Only time will tell if he can become 'greatest ever'.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

dongrammar said:


>


Wtf?

You know what, normally id prob laugh.

Or ignore. But im in contest prep.

Have you got the correct thread fella?

Just seems like a totally random thing?

Quick gimme an answer or youll get a neg in 1 minutes time exactly.


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## powerlifter8 (Jan 28, 2007)

LMFAO

Oh dear...


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## anabolic ant (Jun 5, 2008)

i totally agree with the points brittbb is making,it is plain to see the view!!!!

i mean you cannot compare say the 1800's with even say the 1930's runners...and then compare a 1930's runner to a 2009 runner or even the 1980's runners,this would be simply absurd!!!

you couldnt class sir matt busby with pele...or trevor francis with ronaldo...

or rod laver(tennis player50 years back or so) with macenroe....or compare macenroe with federer...why...the friggin times,there is so much to it like brittbb says,nutrition,equipment,training,practice,facilities,types of training available...even drugs available,rehabilitational effects....there is too many variables to say even somebody 20 years ago would have a chance against someone now...

so this means you can only call usain bolt the best for now!!!

not the greatest ever...thats like saying vitali klitschko is the best boxer...because at the moment he is raining champ or whoever it is(no interest in heavyweights no more)...

does that make him better than tyson when he was at his best...or for that matter does that make tyson better than foreman,ali or frazier?

or was foreman or ali better than joe louis in his day....take em all at their best's you couldnt compare because the times and all the other variables differ...so you cannot say who is the greatest...because that is a test than can never be made to come to light because its only comparisons...not actual real tests n data to say yes they were better...it would only be fair to say this...if all the athletes in question were here today,on the same level,training,ages(roughly),abilities,nutrition,training,drugs and whatever else equals them up...then and only then would that be a fair comparison,but its never gonna happen!!!!!

so brittbb's mate is not better than jesse owens...fcuk 10:03seconds in 1936...is like super fast for christ sake...usian bolt would not of been running that if he was growing up in 36,let me tell you...and pretty much nowadays...all the kids if they are brought up right,healthy and active...will be running much faster than kids of 15 years ago...and if you do this for every 15 years back,you'll see that a sprinter of 50 years ago,will not ever achieve the times of today,simply because of everything and all the technological advances of today...things have got quicker..by reserch,testing,nutrition,drugs etc etc etc...so every 10-15 years,there have been advancements...in science,technology etc etc so its totally unfair to compare the older athletes with the new and it is unfair to say usain bolt is the best ever...he is only the fastest...but somebody is gonna be faster...does that make them the best ever...nope!!!!!!

when bob beamon hopped,skipped n jumped well over 18metres,which was back in 68,which stood for 23 years...made him the world record holder,but jonathan edwards beat it...so who is the greatest?

jumping that distance in the 60's or doing that distance in the 90's...i would say the feat for the 60's was just by age the far more bigger achievement...because it is expected of our athletes to jump 18 metres plus now!!!

then nobody did,or came close!!!!

its was like a ronnie coleman or markus rule...freaks of nature...not come about everyday!!!!

ok,ben johnson was the world record holder...greatest ever...no

linford christie was the fastest sprinter,won all his races...greatest ever...no

maurice green...record holder,fastest at the time...greatest ever...no

asafa powell...record holder...greatest ever....no

usian bolt...world record holder now...greatest ever....who knows????

when you say people like jesse owens or names like that,you think of achievement as well,what he did for the sport,how he changed/revolutionised things...or even was the man with so many odds stacked against him...and still defying it all and winning...these things make you the greatest!!!!

even alan johnson was frikkin the daddy!!!

how about daley thompson...i think he was the greatest,cos he had the biggest heart and a winner...but was more than just a few races winner for the stardom...he was the sport,because of the decathlon!!!!

so fully supported brittbb...!!!!!!


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

anabolic ant said:


> i totally agree with the points brittbb is making,it is plain to see the view!!!!
> 
> i mean you cannot compare say the 1800's with even say the 1930's runners...and then compare a 1930's runner to a 2009 runner or even the 1980's runners,this would be simply absurd!!!
> 
> ...


Cheers mate...glad to see you know exactly what im on about.

I dunno though mate... are you sure that my mate sam who runs the 100m in 10.26 isnt higher than jesse owens in the 'all time greatest sprinters' hall of fame?

Jesse ran it in 10.3, but my mate sam runs it in 10.26.

So according to logic of the forum that puts my mate sam (county, bordering on national level sprinter) above jesse in the all time greats:rolleyes: :lol:

Thats how stupid this argument is tbh.

You measure 'greatness' by overall achievement.


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## donggle (Aug 28, 2007)

I read the first 3 pages and thought I needed to make a post.

Personally I think the greatest ever sprinter is the fastest. Medals are only a measure of placings. If an unknown sprinter came along and for some reason every athlete in the field ran 10 seconds and he runs 9.98. Say he wins gold at every Olympics for 12 years and wins medals at the World etc... he would win more medals than anyone. Does that make him the best? He is slower than anyone else but he has won more medals.

Personally I would rather be the fastest man to have ever lived than have 3 Olympic golds hanging around my neck.

The analogy of F1 cannot be used simply because the cars are so much faster. In fact in most analogies there is something that negates due to newer technology. Bodybuiling cannot be used, there is no measure of performance in bodybuilding. It is judged. I think Kevin Levrone should have won 2-3 Olympias instead of Ronnie, but he didn't, people will disagree. We all know sponsorships have come into bodybuilding too, and favouritism. So bodybuilding is out as an analogy... that is without even going into the use of substances that weren't even around back then (which could be compared to a new F1 car).

Eight men on a field running against a clock, whoever is first across the line gets a gold... if Lewis and Bolt were on the same track right now, I am pretty confident Bolt would beat Lewis in every race.

So IMO Usain Bolt is the best sprinter ever. And yes your mate who ran 10 seconds is better than Jesse. He would beat Jesse on a track right now. Jesse was the best in his era, and he deserves the accoloade of the best athlete of his era. He was next a new generation of athlete, the next step in human performance if you like. Marius Pudzianowski IMO is the best ever strongman, but I'm sure more have won more medals than him.


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## jw007 (Apr 12, 2007)

I have to agree with Little chris and Dom

He smashed the world record with a unheard of time of 9.58, He for all intents and purposes is the fastet man currently in the world that has ever existed.....

I read BRITBBs analogys and dont agree or indeed think they are relevent

Heres one of my own

Bugatti veyron = Fast road prodcution car in World, Has won no races But is still considered the fastest...

Usain Bolt = Fastest Man that ever lived (currently)

He would have need only to run that one race to be greatest ever IMO

Fastest = Greatest IMO

And not only that 2nd place was faster than that juicedup pretender Carl Lewis ever ran, so at his best it would have been doubtful that he would have got 3rd

That was just stupidly freaky....


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## pea head (May 28, 2008)

Bolt 6ft 5 = Bigger strides....quicker times yes?????

Most other sprinters over the years were clearly not 6ft 5...does this give Bolt an advantage compared to the Montgomerys,Jonhson,greene etc??

I think bolt is going to be totally unbeatable and do feel sorry for everybody else who is just turning up for a silver medal in the future.

Im not going to get into the debate of whos the best blah blah,but what happens when some new sprinter turns up who is 7ft ???........will he beat Bolt as to having bigger strides?

I would love to see it broken down height for stride.....do you guys follow?..a bit like a pound for pound thing?

Oh,fcuk knows....just asking


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## paulo (Feb 17, 2007)

astounding time--which he will beat,also makes evryone else up their game ie tyson gays time.

i reckon he will make a record that will stand for a long time.

if he has longevity in the sport then he will be greatest

my favourite was ben johnstone


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## treb92 (Jun 10, 2008)

I always thought sprint was to see who could run the fastest no, therfore the fastest being the best sprinter?


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## coldo (Dec 7, 2008)

Britbb said:


> Not really mate, not as simple as that.
> 
> Its like saying in bodybuilding biggest = best in game, therefore biggest = best ever.
> 
> Then why do most people say arnold is best bodybuilder ever?


You can't really say that, bodybuilding is a totally subjective sport, no one factor makes you the best. There are loads of elements to it.

Sprinting is about who can cover the distance the fastest, if Bolt looked terrible when he ran, but still ran fastest, he'd still be on top of the sport.

The fact he is the fastest ever at the moment means he is also the best ever imo. Until someone beats his WR, if that is possible?


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

So i presume we can then relate this type of uk muscle logic to other sports as well, namely rowing and cycling:

Steve redgrave is not the best rower ever.

Because steve doesnt hold the world record for fastest time. (Despite having 5 consecutive olympic golds). The australian team at the beijing olympics set the world record so that means steve should NOT be considered the best rower of all time. Nor should he be considered better than mathew pinsent or james cracknell as they have a world record in the pairs race.

So cracknell and pinsent, and the four members of the aussie rowing coxless fours team ARE ALL better than steve redgrave.

(Wonder if theyd agree)

Also:

Lance armstrong is NOT the best cyclist ever, because someone has got a quicker time in the tour de france time trials than him, despite him winning it a record breaking 7 times in a row.


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## Squeeeze (Oct 2, 2007)

ste247 said:


> is usain bolt the *greatest* sprinter ever, remember we have had some greats over the years, lindford christie, carl lewis ect ect


Depends on you interpretation of the word great / greatest. Check the dictionary. Those who say Bolt is the greatest because he is the fastest ever are correct. Those who say Lewis is the greatest because he won more golds are also correct.

The question was not specific i.e. who is the fastest or who has won more golds so it is open to a wider interpretation, but some people are of the opinion that theirs is the only correct opinion.


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## robisco11 (Dec 8, 2007)

the hundred metres is about running it in the fastest possible time

therefore fastest recorded sprinter = greatest

I dont think you can say the person with the most medals is the greatest. For example what if when Lewis was running the rest of the field was particularily weak? just saying..

does that still make him better than Bolt when, in theory, he could have been running against a weak field? i dont think so...therefore the person with the fastest time IS the greatest, no matter the era or setting the fastest time is the best.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

lambert said:


> I always thought sprint was to see who could run the fastest no, therfore the fastest being the best sprinter?


I always thought it was a race, to race against other people.

The winner being the person who won the race.

I didnt realise it was a time trial against the clock.

The clock measures the time...the time(s) of todays athletes are of course going to be better than the times from jesse owen because he was 73 years ago!

How people can think for one moment that 73 years of development in sports nutrition, training, drugs and coaching could not in anyway effect a time and that its a 'fair comparison' to make is totally beyond me.

Jesse achieved exactly the same as what usain achieved, infact he achieved more because he won the gold in the long jump as well!

Usain has achieved a 100m gold, 200m gold and relay gold. He set world records.

73 years ago jesse owen did EXACTLY THE SAME THING at the berlin olympics right infront of hitler! Except he also won the long jump as well!

Jesse set the world record as well back then.

So are people here saying that it is a fair comparison to make the performance of an athlete today compared with 73 years ago?

Anyway, according to this logic the forum would therefore agree that steve redgrave is not the greatest all time rower and lance armstrong is not the greatest all time cyclist either...things that i personally would disgree with but the logic of people on uk-m says that in a race it is only about the time and that it is totally acceptable to compare someone running a race today, to an athlete that of 73 years ago (jesse owen).


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## StJocKIII (Dec 10, 2008)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tomfordyce/2009/08/ghost_of_owens_inspires_bolt_t.html

Some points for you both in that article


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

robisco11 said:


> the hundred metres is about running it in the fastest possible time
> 
> therefore fastest recorded sprinter = greatest
> 
> ...


But carl lewis broke the world record of his era as well.

So even though carl lewis has won the most medals in history in sprinting over the most amount of time, is the most accomplished sprinter of all time, most celebrated AND broke the world records in his era...

Because someone comes along 25 years after him and hasnt yet won a third of what carl lewis won but is the current world record holder...this means carl lewis is no longer at the top of the hall of fame?

Get outa here...i cant take this seriously any more.

Bolt is the best of this era in my opinion, without a doubt...but he still has to keep winning for him to be the greatest of all time.

For people to even think about comparing him 'fairly' to jesse owens who raced 73 years ago (to think that is a fair comparison) is pathetic. So presumabley by times...jesse owen is a load of sh1t right?

That any sprinter (even the members of our gb team that couldnt even qualify for the world champs) they should all be higher than jesse owen in the hall of fame list because they have ran faster than owen did (73 years ago)?


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

the thing that amazes me about bolt is that he dosnt seem to put 100% effort in lol ive saw him race a few times and he slows down loads the last 20 metres or so and he still blasts everyone away.


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## robisco11 (Dec 8, 2007)

Britbb said:


> But carl lewis broke the world record of his era as well.
> 
> So even though carl lewis has won the most medals in history in sprinting over the most amount of time, is the most accomplished sprinter of all time, most celebrated AND broke the world records in his era...
> 
> ...


I never said he was more celebrated. Yes Lewis won more medals, but the person who runs it in the quickest time is the greatest. Generation and era aside, no ones doubting that Lewis won more and was at the top of his game for longer, but Bolt has run THE fastest time.

There are many comparisons you could make. Medals dont constitute being better than someone else. Darren Flether has more medals that Steven Gerrard, does that make him a better midfield player? ( i know football is a team game but you mentioned a time trial team in an earlier post). Irrelevant of how long you've been around the runner with the quickest time is the greatest. Say, for example, someone won weightlifitng gold in the olympics 5 times, yet someone else came along and smashed his recoreds by 50%, yet only did it once and then retired. He smashed someones records by a mile but because he only did it once he isnt the greatest? I think he would be, irrelevant of how long he was on top.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

robisco11 said:


> I never said he was more celebrated. Yes Lewis won more medals, but the person who runs it in the quickest time is the greatest. Generation and era aside, no ones doubting that Lewis won more and was at the top of his game for longer, but Bolt has run THE fastest time.
> 
> There are many comparisons you could make. Medals dont constitute being better than someone else. Darren Flether has more medals that Steven Gerrard, does that make him a better midfield player? ( i know football is a team game but you mentioned a time trial team in an earlier post). Irrelevant of how long you've been around the runner with the quickest time is the greatest. Say, for example, someone won weightlifitng gold in the olympics 5 times, yet someone else came along and smashed his recoreds by 50%, yet only did it once and then retired. He smashed someones records by a mile but because he only did it once he isnt the greatest? I think he would be, irrelevant of how long he was on top.


Who is darren flether?

Steve gerrard has won champions leage medals...it is the quality of the medals someone wins that counts.

So lets take your example of weightlifting and other sports i mentioned.

According to you, steve redgrave is NOT the greatest rower ever.

According to you, lance armstrong is NOT the greatest cyclist ever.

According to you ed coan (powerlifter) doesnt even come near the top of the powerlifting hall of fame because many others have deadlifted more than him.

A world record does not make them 'greatest', it makes them 'best performance'.

Greatest = most accomplished, most celebrated of all time = greatest in the hall of fame.

Ie. Steve redgrave, lance armstrong, sugar ray robinson (or arguably ali, but most expert boxing analysts go with robinson), michael jordan, pele (or marradonna) etc etc.

These are people who i would class as 'greatest' in their field. Although none of them hold any world records (they used to, but have since been broken).


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## robisco11 (Dec 8, 2007)

Britbb said:


> Who is darren flether?
> 
> Steve gerrard has won champions leage medals...it is the quality of the medals someone wins that counts.
> 
> ...


All of those people you named, at one point were THE greatest in thier field. You take Robinson, but a modern day great like Mayweather easily compares. You mention Michael Jordan, but modern day players Kobe Bryant and Allan Iverson compare to him. Pele and marradonna are parrelled by recent great...Zidane. Im not debating those you named were the best in thier age, but in the 100m imo anyway the person who holds the fastest time is tyhe greatest at that particular event.


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Britbb said:


> So i presume we can then relate this type of uk muscle logic to other sports as well, namely rowing and cycling:
> 
> Steve redgrave is not the best rower ever.
> 
> ...


Another poor comparrison, why comparrisons are needed is beyond me as they only serve to complicate the issue anyway.

The Tour de France changes in route each year as well as distance.

There are 20 odd stages, the TT is just one of these and winning it doesn't mean you will win the tour anyway (Ullrich in 2003 for example)

Lance Armstrong isn't the best cyclist anyway, that is widely acknowledged as Mercxx who won many more races throughout the racing year as opposed to training for just one race.

The 100m is a simple test of speed- fastest time is the best sprinter.

Usain Bolt has the fastest time, he is therefore currently the greatest sprinter.


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## ParaManiac (Mar 20, 2007)

Supplementation and science has dictated who has been the greatest in any given era.As these advance so will the boundaries of human achievement.

The next "greatest" will be along soon enough


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Britbb said:


> That any sprinter (even the members of our gb team that couldnt even qualify for the world champs) they should all be higher than jesse owen in the hall of fame list because they have ran faster than owen did (73 years ago)?


No, they are better sprinters than Jesse as they won faster times.

They shouldn't rank higher than Jesse in the "hall of fame" list as their achievements must be seen in the era in which they were acclompished.


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## Magic Torch (May 30, 2005)

I'd be better than him if I took steriods


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## laurie g (Nov 28, 2008)

when i was at school i did the 100m in 9.39 but unfortunatley mr guiness book of records person was stuck in traffic and didnt witness it sooo technically i am the fastest man on earth:whistling:..... maybe:tongue:


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## GunnaGetBig (Dec 14, 2008)

I don't understand the comparisons......Lance Armstrong and Steve Redgrave a part of a TEAM. You cannot pin winning medals on their performances alone. Usain Bolt however, is on his own. He runs the fastest. He's winning medals with ease. He is imo the greatest. At the end of the day it is opinions. One man is different to the next


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## gerg (Aug 17, 2008)

if you look at records and times over the years they will probably form a logarithmic plot, with the difference in records getting smaller and smaller

you can probably put this down to better technology/training/"assistance"/diet

there's also a larger pool of athletes to choose from, 100 years ago there probably wasn't many people to choose form. nowadays it's possible for almost anybody (with the right talent) to become an olympian. 100 years ago i bet these was not the case.

Right now we're pushing the limits of human performance, though in 100 years who's to say we won't look back and laugh at these "slow" times.

As for greatest ever, we don't know the future, but he's certainly the fastest at the present time.


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## Ashcrapper (Jul 3, 2008)

hard to say really. so many factors that people with or will not take into consideration. same reason as why "the greatest boxer" and other such topics always have varying outcomes.

is he the fastest? absolutely. the greatest? how is that being measured?

last time I looked I didnt see any greatness chart that you could refer to


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## jw007 (Apr 12, 2007)

Britbb said:


> Who is darren flether?
> 
> Steve gerrard has won champions leage medals...it is the quality of the medals someone wins that counts.
> 
> ...


Usually I agree with your posts mate, But your arguments are flawed and why are you using irrelevant analogies?????

100m sprint is measured by time run, people are always looking to run a "quicker" 100m

The fastest time, irrelevant of history, competition or medals is the name of the game

Fastest = greatest

Even if he came out of nowhere ran 9.58 for 1 race than went back to being a farmer or whatever

IMO he would still be the greatest and have the time That ALL OTHER 100m sprinters would be striving to beat...

Who gives a sh1t about a winning medal when you have the fastest Time Run EVER, You are the BEST therefor the greatest IMO


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## fxleisure (Apr 15, 2008)

Ste247, what a can of worms you have opened my friend...!

'Taken from Wikipedia'

Greatness is a concept heavily dependent on a person's perspective and biases. Whether someone or something is great or not depends from subjective judgements of the value of one person or thing as compared to another.

In order to find the answer to this debate, I feel it is down to Ste247 to reply, stating his meaning of 'Greatest'.

IMO however, Husain cannot yet be classed as the 'greatest' to date as he is still active in his profession and only once he has retired (so to speak) can his level of greatness be truly evaluated.

Come on then Ste.......


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## noel (Dec 30, 2005)

But the way hes taking the times is something special, most people chip away he is taking 12 hundreths not 1s and 2s.....

most of his peers think hes unstoppable, lewis was always beatable i.e close races...with bolt hes head and shoulders above

plus to see Michael Johnsons reaction - himself a true legend and one of the greats of athletics said it all, he was literally speechless....in total awe


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

LittleChris said:


> No, they are better sprinters than Jesse as they won faster times.
> 
> *They shouldn't rank higher than Jesse in the "hall of fame" list as their achievements must be seen in the era in which they were acclompished*.


Bingo!

Thankyou for proving my point chris

The 'greatest' is not 'the best'...

The greatest is not the 'current fastest'.

We are talking 'greatest of all time'.

So who is the greatest at the top of the hall of fame:

Only one answer, carl lewis. What he achieved in his era is superior to what usain bolt has achieved (so far) in this era.

For the moment carl lewis is still at the top of the hall of fame.

Thankyou chris


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

Britbb said:


> Bingo!
> 
> Thankyou for proving my point chris
> 
> ...


No problem mate. Glad you finally saw sense in the end.


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## Magic Torch (May 30, 2005)

I agree with JW tho...the way the OP worded the thread....'Greatest Ever' would insinuate that we are talking the best in a one off race. The WR holder would indeed be that man.

He may not be as decorated as Carl Lewis but he has out performed him regardless of era.

If you are asking who has archived the most in their career as a world class sprinter then yes Carl Lewis would take that accolade.

Play on words is always fun


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## jw007 (Apr 12, 2007)

iny any case

Being the greatest in anything is subjective at best,as opinions differ

Facts are undisputable

Bolt = Fastest EVER

Bolt = BEST


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

Ashcrapper said:


> hard to say really. so many factors that people with or will not take into consideration. same reason as why "the greatest boxer" and other such topics always have varying outcomes.
> 
> is he the fastest? absolutely. the greatest? how is that being measured?
> 
> *last time I looked I didnt see any greatness chart that you could refer to*


You didnt look very hard mate... i wrote two posts that clearly showed the amount of gold medals the pair had won.

Carl lewis = around 20

Usain bolt = 4 (maybe 5 when the 200m comes up at the world champ later this week).

There is obviously a sticking point here.

It all depends on how one defines 'greatest'.

For me personally i define it as the greatest person comparitavely speaking (allowing descrepencies for era)...in that case the only way to measure this is to see how many gold medals that person won at olympics and world champs.

The world record gets broken, that doesnt take away the greatness of the person who won the olympics though, in 100 years time when usain bolt's record means nothing anymore and 99% of olympic sprinters are running faster than it will it take away usain's greatness?

Definately not! He will still be right near the top in the hall of fame!

As for the reference someone made regarding the comparison of mayweather jnr to sugar ray robinson... :lol:

Sorry mate, there is no boxing pundit or expert in the world who places mayweather on the same level as robinson. Mayweather is on simmilar level to pacman. Ali is way above mayweather on the all time greats list in boxing. Robinson is the only person that is ahead of ali.

But maybe i put that down to lack of specific boxing knowledge which is fair enough, take my word for it though mate, no boxing pundit claims mayweather to be as good as sugar ray robinson was The simmilarities can be made between size/style etc but in as far as records and achievement the two are way way apart. Mayweather would have to be fighting people over a stone heavier than him and be undefeated for a further 30 more fights if he were to even match robinson's 1st wave of wins (before he suffered one defeat to jake la motta, who he then went on to beat 2 weeks later despite being 16 or so lbs lighter than him).

I can see the points everyone has made but in the end i stand by my own argument (stubborn bastard maybe haha:laugh, i maintain that the 'greatest of all time' = the most accomplished = the most celebrated.

The greatest of all time = the person at the top of the hall of fame.

In this moment in time, carl lewis is currently at the top of the hall of fame, with jesse owen very close up there as well and usain bolt of course, but in terms of overall achievements in sprinting, carl lewis is on another level so far.

Of course in a few years this could change though...and id like to see usain bolt be the man who does it


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## tom0311 (Nov 17, 2008)

As far as I'm concerned you are a good sprinter if you're fast. If he is the fastest sprinter in the world, he is the best sprinter in the world. He might not be 'your favourite' sprinter, but he is the best. You can't ignore world records.


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## Britbb (Sep 7, 2007)

jw007 said:


> iny any case
> 
> Being the greatest in anything is subjective at best,as opinions differ
> 
> ...


Fastest does not equal 'greatest of all time'!

Greatest of all time = top of the hall of fame.

Usain bolt is the current world record holder but is not at the top of the hall of fame!

I think this is where many people are missunderstood.

The question was not 'who is the fastest sprinter ever'.

The question was not 'on times, who is the best sprinter ever'.

The question was 'who is the greatest sprinter ever'...meaning who is at the top of the hall of fame.

When someone asks 'who is the greatest boxer ever' they mean who is at the top of the p4p all time list hall of fame.

EDIT...im obviously just going round in circles here and i cant be asked with this anymore.

If the original poster wanted 'who is the fastest sprinter of all time' maybe he wouldve written it in his post?

Its fuking obvious usain is the fastest of all time as he has the world record.

But usain is not at the top of the sprinters hall of fame.

And the logic of some people in this thread astounds me, to say that my mate who runs a 10.26 for lower national level 100m shoudl rank above jesse owens in the hall of fame list because he has beaten jesse's time that was set 73 years ago. Its plain from this alone to see that it is pointless to debate.


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## Ashcrapper (Jul 3, 2008)

Britbb said:


> You didnt look very hard mate... i wrote two posts that clearly showed the amount of gold medals the pair had won.


Sorry, I didnt realise you where the governing body on how greatness is measured mate 

My point which you missed (or ignored) is one persons view of greatness varies to another...

The boxing stuff you said, was you referring that to me? I never mentioned any names, just said the outcome is always slightly different depending on who you listen to.

Its all about opinions


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## jw007 (Apr 12, 2007)

Britbb said:


> *Fastest does not equal 'greatest of all time'!*
> 
> pointless to debate.


It does in my opinion

Same as guy with biggest Deadlift EVER would be greatest Deadlifter EVER IMO,even if he just lifted it the once

Same with any other activity when result can be quantified by time or number, with no argument or discrepnacy....

You might measure greatness on your ability to beat sub par peers with a mediocre time and revceive some sort of metallic gong as conformation, but with no real world achievment, Im prob more elitist and only intereted in whats quantifiable, not differing opinions.....


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## fxleisure (Apr 15, 2008)

jw007 said:


> It does in my opinion
> 
> Same as guy with biggest Deadlift EVER would be greatest Deadlifter EVER IMO,even if he just lifted it the once
> 
> ...


Heres another way of looking at it

REPS/ LEVEL HALL OF FAME (GREATEST UKM MEMBER)

Winger 4233848

JW007 4151267

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## jw007 (Apr 12, 2007)

fxleisure said:


> Heres another way of looking at it
> 
> REPS/ LEVEL HALL OF FAME (GREATEST UKM MEMBER)
> 
> ...


[email protected] :cursing: :cursing: :cursing:

Alas, as it pains me, Winger is currently the greatest.....

Things could change very soon tho:beer: :beer:


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

fxleisure said:


> Ste247, what a can of worms you have opened my friend...!
> 
> 'Taken from Wikipedia'
> 
> ...


it dosnt matter what i think lol, i asked the question because i thought it would be a good debate, imo tho he is **** hot the fastest ever, but dose that make him the greatest? he sure has the potential, but mike tyson had the potential to become the greatest ever heavyweight and we all know what happend there.........there is alot of differant views on this thread but i think its true to say he should be judged in a few more years.....he is saying tho that he think he can get down to 9.4 secs if he dose then that could take some years to beat.


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## alan87 (Apr 27, 2009)

i dont think you can even tell, if other sprinters from earlier eras were in the game now, i think they would do things alot differently to what they did back then, thus improving their times too... but obviously his times speak for themselves and on paper he is the best...


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## fxleisure (Apr 15, 2008)

jw007 said:


> [email protected]:cursing: :cursing: :cursing:
> 
> Alas, as it pains me, Winger is currently the greatest.....
> 
> Things could change very soon tho:beer: :beer:


Awwww, will it make you feel better if I rep you to help you play catch mate :lol:


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## tom0311 (Nov 17, 2008)

Britbb said:


> The question was 'who is the greatest sprinter ever'...meaning who is at the top of the hall of fame.


Maybe that's just your interpretation of 'the greatest sprinter ever'. Mine would be whoever holds the current world record. It's different with boxing, theres so much more to boxing than just running 100m as quickly as possible.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

i still think fastest ever equals greatest imo. dont see how hall of fame has to come into it.

as jw says, best deadlifter ever, is the one who has the highest deadlift, if i went into a comp unknown and pulled a world record deadlift, then i would be the worlds greatest deadlifter, doesnt matter how many gold pieces i have


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## robisco11 (Dec 8, 2007)

the aim of each sprinter is to run as fast a time as they can. Medals, championships, hall of fame, wins, put everything aside and make no mistake about it. When a 100m sprinter gets on that track he is trying to go as fast as is humanly possible over the distance. Therefore the holder of the fastest ever recorded time is the greatest.


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## Goose (Jan 29, 2009)

I have a better one...

WHO CARES!?


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## TOBE (Mar 9, 2008)

jw007 said:


> It does in my opinion
> 
> Same as guy with biggest Deadlift EVER would be greatest Deadlifter EVER IMO,even if he just lifted it the once
> 
> ...


agree with this


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## lshannon41 (Jul 28, 2009)

For me he's the greatest because not only is he the world record holder but because he has really captured the imagination in a way no other 100 meter runner has in my opinion, with the possible exception of jesse owens. Before Bolt exploded onto the seen the world record was 9.74 seconds, in the space of less than 18 months he has taken 0.16 seconds off the record. The world record was in the 9.8's for 9 years with a hundredth of a second or 2 getting chipped off every couple of years. He has done the unthinkable. If someone had told me 18 months ago someone would run 9.58 in the next 10 years I'd have told them they know f.uck all about sprinting and if I were to tell you that in 2 years time somebody will run 9.42 I'd get laughed out of UKM:lol:


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

imagine when people start running below 9s :|


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## lshannon41 (Jul 28, 2009)

You reckon they will?, I'm not saying its impossible but surely it will be 20/30 years at the very least. What I love about what Bolt has done is he has made everyone out there sit up and ask the question 'just how low can the wr time go?'. He denies limits.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

who knows. i think so  depends what the maximum speed the human body mechanics allow i guess


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

BigDom86 said:


> who knows. i think so  depends what the maximum speed the human body mechanics allow i guess


why do you think sprinters get faster over the years, is it better training,diet,and push them selves more or better drugs.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

well id like to believe usain bolt is drug free. but who knows. i say innocent until proven guilty. the jamaican team is quite rigorously tested though


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2009)

for dope yeah


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## wes (May 28, 2006)

Britbb said:


> Not really mate, not as simple as that.
> 
> Its like saying in bodybuilding biggest = best in game, therefore biggest = best ever.
> 
> ...


Not entirely true, just take the womens 100m flo jo still has the world record at 10.49 (i think). The current line up would be eating her dust. Even a juiced up marion jones couldn't do it.

As for bolt, not yet but he will be if all goes to plan.


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## lshannon41 (Jul 28, 2009)

ste247 said:


> is it better training,diet,and push them selves more or better drugs.


probably a little of each plus I think evolution could be factor. Before you think I'm stupid, I realise that evolution happens over millions of years but through natural selection genetic potential will have a slight bearing on it. For example if you go to a really old house you will notice lower doorframes, people are getting noticeably taller with every generation or so, so why not faster or stronger?


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## Dezw (May 13, 2009)

He is certainly on the path to greatness.

He is already the fastest ever and barring any bad injuries he should definitely become an all time great.


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## pea head (May 28, 2008)

What abouy my said theory?

Bolt 6ft 5 Bigger strides=faster times? Yes/no ???

What happens when the next sprinter turns up who is 7ft 2 for example,will he do sub 9.50 just based on this?

Dont worry im not knocking Bolt,hes the dogs btw.


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## Dezw (May 13, 2009)

pea head said:


> What abouy my said theory?
> 
> Bolt 6ft 5 Bigger strides=faster times? Yes/no ???
> 
> ...


That will work to a point, as eventually the bigger mans weight will start to become an issue, as will the aerodynamics and general awkwardness.

Seeing really tall people sprint is funny.


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## DNC (Jan 8, 2009)

Just say if Usain Bolt has been about for 8 years and has got all the medals that Carl Lewis has but the same times as Lewis as well.

Then say Lewis has won what Bolt has now but he's got the same times as Bolt as well.

Then it would be lewis who is the greatest as he has the best times,but it's not it's Bolt with the fastest time ever.

So he is the Greatest.


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## fozyspilgrims (Oct 22, 2007)

Yes, DB is putting up a good arguement but its still yes.


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## stow (Jun 5, 2007)

Bolt is unusual because typically people of 6'5" don't have the balance and coordination to generate a gait and stride pattern fast enough to run at these sorts of speeds. So he is fairly different for sure. And I think yes, its possible that more tall people could come along and achieve in sprinting. The human race is getting taller, better nourished, more knowledgeable (good and bad) and more achievement oriented. Its wholly possible that the record will be beaten but probably in stages, like the threshold of 10 secs, the threshold of 9.8 etc.

Next step is under 9.5, Bolt might do that for sure, but it will probably need a more freakier freak to get signif below that.


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## PACEY (Jan 16, 2009)

I wouldnt say bolt is the greatest sprinter of all time. He is no doubt the fastest, but i would say that must be partly down to diet and training which would have improved over the years. So cant really compare his times to people years back. He could how ever become the greatest if he wins more medals and his new records cant be broken. I reckon he can run alot faster then he does but obviouly they get bonuses each time they break the world record so he is pretty smart shaving a lil bit off his time each race.


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## lshannon41 (Jul 28, 2009)

0.11 seconds isn't a little bit its a lot. The reason I think he's the best is that to my memory he the only sprinter to ever smash the world record. In the last year and a bit he has done what took the rest of the top sprinters, carl lewis included, 17 years to accomplish (taking 0.16 seconds of the WR)


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2010)

I think it has to be judged on how impressive the person's achievements are relative to what era they competed in. In terms of sprinters, the two stand-out for me are Michael Johnson, just because his record was unbroken for so many years. Second has to be Usain Bolt, for a) the ease at which he absolutely smashed both the 100m and 200m world records, B) just how much of a cut above the rest he really is and c) his potential to go even faster with nobody else even close to him.


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## Virgo83 (Jul 19, 2009)

just had a read through this thread :lol:

Theres a few of you just overcomplicating things with so much bullsh!t its unbelievable.

Its not peoples opinion.

Sprinting is about who can run the distance the fastest. End of.

So the current world record holder is the greatest/best/fastest, whatever you want to call it because in that sport that time is the name of the game.

Eras....Hall of fames? FFS :lol: :lol:


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

strong bump here.......

usain bolt is the fastest man on the planet at the min, compeard to 15 years ago when lewis was doing it there is no comparison.......so why have these sprinters go so much faster? do drugs play a big part and only unlucky ppl like ben johnston and dwain chambers get found out and the rest get away with it....


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## Virgo83 (Jul 19, 2009)

ste247 said:


> strong bump here.......
> 
> usain bolt is the fastest man on the planet at the min, compeard to 15 years ago when lewis was doing it there is no comparison.......so why have these sprinters go so much faster? do drugs play a big part and only unlucky ppl like ben johnston and dwain chambers get found out and the rest get away with it....


 maximuscle cyclone mate


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## Ken Hutchinson (May 29, 2009)

They have all taken drugs for the last 50 years so it is a level playing field, but god did not create man equal, some people are, just out of this world usain bolt is one of those people, he is the greatsest sprinter who as walked the earth thus far......end of.


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## ste247 (Mar 18, 2008)

Virgo83 said:


> maximuscle cyclone mate


 ha ha yes, that must be the secret lol ill invest in some of that asap


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## bearman (Feb 22, 2009)

In my opinion what time u run in counts and he is the fastest so far that has ever entered professional competition. so yes he is.


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## BigDom86 (Jul 27, 2008)

lol this thread again? yes he is the best


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## BLUTOS (Mar 5, 2005)

I think a fellow who can win the gold at an olympics, break the world record and do so whislt slowing down is pretty darn good.


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## Ironclad (Jun 23, 2009)

The greatest. Until the next freak arrives.


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## Euroboy (Dec 3, 2009)

At managing to evade the drug tester's ??


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## MarkMck (Apr 1, 2009)

BLUTOS said:


> I think a fellow who can win the gold at an olympics, break the world record and do so whislt slowing down is pretty darn good.


Well put. Only a matter of time before his medal collection builds up. Although i did love the way Michael Johnstone used to run. His style maked it look so easy


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## jimmy79 (Jul 1, 2009)




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## brockles (Jun 23, 2009)

Technology changes. When Lewis was running spikes were probably atleast twice as heavy as they are now, running surfaces have changed and so has knowledge in what is more effective when it comes to diet and training. What constitutes how great an athlete is? Medal tally isnt really a true measure due to sprinters having bad days,injuries and level of competition in the field. Carl lewis was in his prime for 100m at the age of 30 when he ran 1 9.86, when he was 21/22 he ran a 10.00 by the time he reached 30 he had increased his time by 0.14 seconds. Usian Bolt ran a 9.58 at the age of 22 assuming he gets quicker with age as did Lewis then he will significantly break barriers noone thought were possible. In my opinion he is the greatest sprinter of all time and will remain there for a good 30-50 years. Talking of genetic freaks Darrell Green,an ex nfl star was quicker than Lewis during highschool or college. Recently at the age of 50 Green ran a 4.4 40yard dash, Bolts 40m split time from his 9.58 WR was 4.64. 40m = 43.75 yards. Not bad for a 50 year old ha


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## Virgo83 (Jul 19, 2009)

brockles said:


> Technology changes. When Lewis was running spikes were probably atleast twice as heavy as they are now, running surfaces have changed and so has knowledge in what is more effective when it comes to diet and training. What constitutes how great an athlete is? Medal tally isnt really a true measure due to sprinters having bad days,injuries and level of competition in the field. Carl lewis was in his prime for 100m at the age of 30 when he ran 1 9.86, when he was 21/22 he ran a 10.00 by the time he reached 30 he had increased his time by 0.14 seconds. Usian Bolt ran a 9.58 at the age of 22 assuming he gets quicker with age as did Lewis then he will significantly break barriers noone thought were possible. In my opinion he is the greatest sprinter of all time and will remain there for a good 30-50 years. Talking of genetic freaks Darrell Green,an ex nfl star was quicker than Lewis during highschool or college. Recently at the age of 50 Green ran a 4.4 40yard dash, Bolts 40m split time from his 9.58 WR was 4.64. 40m = 43.75 yards. Not bad for a 50 year old ha


Nice 

But irrelevant.

The greatest sprinter is the person that can do the distance in the fastest time and until someone comes along and beats his time, its him.

Im struggling to see how people cant see this :lol:


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## R84 (May 10, 2009)

Agree with this ^...no scope for debate in athletics. Distance and time. Done.


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## Virgo83 (Jul 19, 2009)

dutch_scott said:


> funny ur opinion is that of EVERYONE IN ATHELTICS or theyd do away with times and have the nicest guy to win a race or who broke it when spikes were the most basic... YAWN.....


 Pardon :confused1:


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## cant king (Aug 31, 2009)

I think Ben johnson was a much better sprinter, its a shame he got banned for life. Carl lewis also took performance enhancing drugs.


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## mal (Dec 31, 2009)

could usain bolt knock out a gorilla? :cool2:


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## Virgo83 (Jul 19, 2009)

dutch_scott said:


> i was saying ur opinion is shared by athletes :thumb: as in i agree,,, the funny was ironicly humurous
> 
> carl lewis is the second fastest man to get given a hand up by american feds]
> 
> ben johnson is one of the most gifted atheltes ever and wudve blitxed bolts times now.. he was virtually new at it


 ok cool. This thread has just confused me with all the talk of different era's, hall of fames, medal and inferior spikes :lol:

when it is such a simple answer :thumbup1:


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## Jake H (Oct 31, 2008)

at the moment yes coz he hols the record


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## dazsmith69 (Oct 29, 2009)

by a mile!


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## wes (May 28, 2006)

dutch_scott said:


> JESUS U GUYS
> 
> right iv coached olympic level sprinters and greats r measured on times or it wudnt be a timed sport...
> 
> ...


But, klitscho is not the greatest boxer of all time. There's a difference.

and I disagree about Bolt. He's the fastest of all time and has the potential to be the greatest of all time but he's not there yet. It's too soon.

So there is a huge difference between greatest (currently) and greatest of all time in all sport.


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## Ashcrapper (Jul 3, 2008)

mal said:


> could usain bolt knock out a gorilla? :cool2:


could outrun it


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## Thierry (Oct 19, 2009)

probably


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## Dav1 (Sep 25, 2009)

Ben Johnson for me took no more than any other of the great sprinters since, just ****ed Lewis off so got caught. I would say Jesse owens should be up there with the best too as put any of the newer guys on a cinder track and see their times go up considerably, 10.3 on an apparently wet/muddy cinder track was not shabby ahead of his time.


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## noel (Dec 30, 2005)

mariusz would do him, bruce too

;-)


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## -Jack- (Sep 28, 2009)

he is the fastest man therefore the best sprinter


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2010)

noel said:


> mariusz would do him, bruce too
> 
> ;-)


usain bolt would surely do them 2?


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## RyanClarke (May 7, 2009)

Theres no comparison to any other sport really, As he is a sprinter. He is looking for the best time hes against the clock not the other people. Anybody who holds a world record in the olympics if you will, is the best at there choosen event so far. Yes, Maybe in the futuree we'll see better. But currently and by far usain bolt is the best sprinter ever.


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## Heat01 (Oct 15, 2006)

Lot of debates happening here with valid points,

Usain Bolt is the fastest sprinter ever as per his times no doubts... BUT..

He has only been on the scene for 2 years approx..? so can he be called

the greatest ever..?

I think this is where the division is... ie Carl Lewis has won gold/silver/bronze medals over 4 olympics & not only won the 100/200mt sprints, he also had long jump events to contend with at the same time, so based on success over a 12 year period at the top of his sport and in multiple events, Carl Lewis used in this example must be ranked above Usain Bolt until Usain can dominate his sport in a similiar way or better. IMO. :thumbup1:


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## noel (Dec 30, 2005)

however the flip side is whilst Lewis was in the medals for 4 years....

he still never ran as fast as Usain

so you can equally argue both him and his peers were of lesser quality .....

Usain did basically murder both records at the same olympics and didnt even have anyone close.....

beat Johnsons time as dutch said who is pretty much acknowledged as one of the greats...

so he wiped the floor, in BOTH events, and smashed his own WR in one, and the WR of one of the olympics(and sprintings) true greats...

open and shut case IMO


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## WILD_AMAZON1 (Jul 4, 2008)

OMG! Can't believe I had nothing better to do today than read that!

I think usain is awesome and is most certainly by my opinion the greatest right now. I don't think you can judge someones greatness so much by the number of medals in their back pocket, might make them a great entertainer or person to watch and remember. In sprinting when it comes down to a man and his shoes i'm more inclined to let the time do the talking rather than a medal count, which makes his ability subjective against the rest of the field which could have been particularly weak, or a disproportionate time frame.

Would be interesting to take all of the greats throughout time with their raw talent and give them the supps and technology we have now and see how they fare. I'm still tempted to root for usain though because even today with all of the stuff lthey put in themselves and the technology we have to refine their technique that boy is way ahead of his peers.

IT's long been thought that tall people struggle to achieve the rapid turnover needed to make them great sprinters so they are encouraged to play games like basketball etc in school but usain has shown that is not necessarily the case and coaches need to adopt different methods of teaching so I reckon (in my expert opinion  ) give it a few years and there will be more taller sprinters challenging those faster times.

That is all


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## gb666 (Mar 14, 2006)

Usain Bolt is phenomenal no question about it and time will tell if he can keep knocking a hundredth or two off his records.

Ben Johnson we will never know how far he could have gone because of getting banned.

Dr Astaphan was based in the Caribbean, wonder if he passed on his research to the Jamaicans:whistling:


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## Euroboy (Dec 3, 2009)

As mentioned (in March) sprinters/atheletes today have all the Supps + Tech availible. So probably unfair to compare him to Jessie Owens !!


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## LittleChris (Jan 17, 2009)

LMAO, just read over this again, logic of some members does make me chuckle!


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Just read this for the first time, can't believe people repeating the line about how nothing has changed, it's 100m track, a dude and trainers.

Are people seriously forgetting about that little thing called EVOLUTION? People in general are bigger, stronger, faster, smarter etc than our ancestors were. So although the distance doesn't change, and the track doesn't change, the actual human involved has changed, so it's not fair to compare a modern day athlete to one from a bygone era, because EVOLUTION has changed things in favour of the modern man. Hence world records are continually eclipsed as the years go by.


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## miketheballer (Jan 29, 2010)

yes i think he is. just because of how much he SMASHED each record. no one was even close to it.

supplements and research is an advantage to athletes these days. . . but it is also arguable how much they do really aid performance in events like this.

in my opinion i think he is a very gifted genetic machine!! (not saying he hasn't trained hard of course). also there are a lot of 'links' to Jamaica and steroid use.

but anyway, i think he is the best 

:thumb:


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## Euroboy (Dec 3, 2009)

T.F. said:


> Just read this for the first time,* can't believe people repeating the line about how nothing has changed, it's 100m track, a dude and trainers.*
> 
> *
> *
> ...












*Look at that Beast !!! * :laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## Prince Adam (Mar 17, 2012)

I'd vote for Usain


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## Wheyman (Sep 6, 2011)

if there is transparent doping tests in Jamaica I would say yes but there isnt


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