I am curious to ask the fellow Americans who the fastest man after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta was. I am hoping to find out online but I thought I would start this here whilst I continue my search.
Since the original post is a question requiring a factual answer, not a Straight Dope column, this thread is leaving the «Comments on Cecil’s Columns» forum and going to visit my colleagues manhattan and Chronos in the «General Questions» forum.
moderator, «Comments on Cecil’s Columns»
Maybe you should ask Canadians - the fastest man at 100M was Canadian Donovan Bailey. The fastest man at 200M was American Micheal Johnson. Johnson spouted off in the press about how he would have “kicked Bailey’s ass” at Atlanta, but he had to run the 200M the next day.
Bailey and Johnson met for a 150M showdown at Toronto’s Skydome in June 1997. Bailey smoked him so bad Johnson pulled up and didn’t finish race. When asked if felt he had “kicked Johnson’s ass”, Bailey replied, “of course not . . . to do that, I’d have to be behind him.”
Define “Fastest man.” Do you mean fastest as a result of the 1996 Olympics? Or between 1996 and now?
At the time, the fastest-run race, in terms of time per second, was (as it always is) the 200m, making Michael Johnson the fastest man in the world. However, the man who actually had the highest speed at any point was Donovan Bailey, who ran his 100m much faster (9.84s) than Johnson ran his first 100m (about 10.20s.)
Since then, Johnson’s record for the fastest speed per meter remains, but the 100m runners really are faster. It’s no longer Bailey; now it’s world record holder Maurice Greene.