Monroeski said:
That entire article is about how he's an exception. Michael Johnson was an exception way back when because of his upright running style, too, but you don't see a bunch of guys these days running upright like he did. What I do remember is speculation that he was juicing because the physics told us he couldn't run that fast with that form, ie the same thing people are saying about Bolt now.
I think this is different though, and disagree with the conclusion of the article, although I'm obviously not as qualified on the subject as the person who wrote it.
Bolt doesn't just have a different style, he has a different physique which isn't naturally suited to sprinting. The fact that he's been able to translate that into speed suggests one of three things:
a) He's on drugs
b) He has the rare natural talent to make it work
c) They found a training program that works, and can get them started at an early enough age.
Well, as he didn't beat any British sprinters to a medal, I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt on a). And it's entirely possible that the heavens and stars aligned perfectly when Bolt was born giving rise to option b), in which case the article was perfectly correct. But what if the Jamaicans have found that magic spell? If so, it's perfectly repeatable, and can have obviously good effects as a new generation of sprinters start edging closer to 9.5 seconds and basking in the resulting publicity and endless paydays.
And don't forget that the biggest argument the article had against an army of 7 foot mutants in the 2012 100m final was that the tall people would hunt out easier ways to make a living. But don't discount the idea of national pride. If the US or Chinese teams thought they had a quick 6 foot 5 sprinter in their midst, they would drag them out of their comfy sport in a second and throw as much money at them as physically possible just for Olympic gold glory.
