# World Athletics Championship (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 16, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661 "2009-08-16T21:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/41 "2009-08-20T19:31:31Z")
His agent needs to have a word - tell him to take a leaf out of that pole vaulter’s book - 0.01 sec at a time Usain, you need to make a living mate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/42 "2009-08-20T19:35:12Z")
Sergei Bubka? ---
**Author:** ![ekweizn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@ekweizn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekweizn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/43 "2009-08-20T20:51:35Z")
No discussion of Caster Semenya, women’s 800 meter world champion? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/44 "2009-08-20T21:51:54Z")
I think Bolt has a sub 19 second 200 within his reach. On a different note, watching the women’s high jump tonight was an interesting study in style and personalities. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/45 "2009-08-20T22:09:35Z")
> [@](#): > > No discussion of Caster Semenya, women’s 800 meter world champion? It seems like a clusterF, that’s for sure - IAAF announcing the gender testing issue just prior to her running the final. There’s some good discussion on the matters in hand so to speak on the science in sport blog **Chez Guevara** linked to above. It’s been quite funny hearing some commentators talk about it, obviously failing to comprehend just what the problem is here. _It takes how long to work out whether she’s a man or a woman, five months ?!?_ One thing that did strike me about the sex-determination procedure is that if it truly is so involved, and requires a triangulation of opinion between a geneticist, gynaecologist, pharmacologist etc., doesn’t that open the door to generally query the ‘sex’ of any female power athlete? Every woman lining up in the 1 and 200m is ‘unusually’ muscled - that’s why they’re athletes. e.g. say a female sprinter produces unusually high levels of testosterone, almost to the level of a man - is a gender investigation warranted? It seems if the IAAF are prepared to acknowledge sex as such a multi-faceted and complex phenomenon then it could be a potential can of worms for them. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/46 "2009-08-21T00:32:56Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Why would 100m sprinters slow down at the end? I thought fatigue didn’t play any role over that distance. [Phosphocreatinine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphocreatine) threshold. At somewhere between 7–9 seconds, depending on the athlete and training, the switch from purely anaerobic metabolism to utilizing glycogen starts. In the longer 400 m sprint, the second 100 m is the fastest of the race because the athlete is already at full speed and glycolitic metabolism is in full effect. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/47 "2009-08-21T01:51:28Z")
[http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-track-world-championships21-2009aug21,0,3053942.story](http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-track-world-championships21-2009aug21,0,3053942.story) He dropped the 200 by .11. He is in a rut. Nowadays ,I can not help being suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/48 "2009-08-21T03:25:32Z")
Wow, 19.19? Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/49 "2009-08-21T05:54:30Z")
The most fascinating rivalry in sprinting today is between Bolt(100) and Bolt(200). Traditionally the 100m winner is considered the “fastest man” but sometimes the 200m is actually run at a faster pace; for example when Michael Johnson smashed the record some years back. In Beijing Bolt’s 19.30 was faster than his 9.69. Here Bolt(100) got his revenge and his 9.58 is just a touch faster than his 19.19. ---
**Author:** ![kongrit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a183cd/32.png) [@kongrit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kongrit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/50 "2009-08-21T06:03:42Z")
I just saw this. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/51 "2009-08-21T06:05:13Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > The most fascinating rivalry in sprinting today is between Bolt(100) and Bolt(200). Traditionally the 100m winner is considered the “fastest man” but sometimes the 200m is actually run at a faster pace; for example when Michael Johnson smashed the record some years back. In Beijing Bolt’s 19.30 was faster than his 9.69. Here Bolt(100) got his revenge and his 9.58 is just a touch faster than his 19.19. Lol! ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/52 "2009-08-21T09:07:27Z")
> [@jk1245](#): > > Course, the one unknown here is PEDs. Given track and field’s history, that has to be considered. I hope not. Hope it’s just that we’re seeing a once in a century athlete. I’d be surprised if this factor wasn’t at the back of everybody’s mind, if it isn’t at the front. We’ve got two choices really. Believe in him, but feel stupid later if he isn’t running clean, or assume from the outset that the guy is on something or other. I’ll take the first option. Jamaica’s 400m coach is one Bert Cameron, former world champion over that distance. He fancies Bolt to step up to one lap in at some time in the future. Bolt himself doesn’t like 400m, but he has allegedly promised Cameron that he will do the distance, and run 42.5 into the bargain. The current world record is held by Michael Johnson at 43.18. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/53 "2009-08-21T12:50:34Z")
Here are the official timing photos of Bolt’s [100m](http://berlin.iaaf.org/gallery/photofinish/photo=M_100_f_1/popup.html?iframe) and [200m](http://berlin.iaaf.org/gallery/photofinish/photo=M_200_f_1/popup.html?iframe) world records. A couple of things I noticed: one, Bolt managed to adopt incredibly similar positions while corssing the line in both races, (albeit with the opposite foot on the ground). He even managed to plant a foot right on the line for that comedy giant-clown-shoe effect. 🙂 Two, in the 100m final, 7 of the 8 athletes finished sub-10 seconds. (the 6th and 7th had their times rounded up to 10.00 though). Has that ever happened before in a 100m race? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/54 "2009-08-21T13:12:54Z")
And while I’m on the topic of photo finishes, [here’s](http://berlin.iaaf.org/images/photofinish/3658/m_110h_f_1.jpg) the 110m hurdles photo. Tough one to split, especially as Trammell (in second place) has his head covering his torso. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/55 "2009-08-21T13:32:37Z")
Oh hey, thanks for those - I love the finish camera shots. That’s really cool they put them online. Didn’t realise they round the times up, either; Bolt’s 9.58 is more of a 9.572 by the looks of it. Mental. It seems silly that Bolt, probably the best man at running away there has ever been, appears so nice you’d like him to stick around. Maybe he should start doing whole laps. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/56 "2009-08-21T13:42:55Z")
I just noticed the honking great stitches they had to put in the 200m photo so Bolt would be on the same page as the rest of the athletes. It jumps straight from 19.3 to about 19.8. I repeat: mental. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/57 "2009-08-21T13:51:12Z")
Yep, I love looking at the photo finish shots as well. The offical [site](http://berlin.iaaf.org/results/racedate=08-20-2009/bydate.html) has links to them when you click on the results each day. I must admit I missed the blue dotted lines first where chunks were cut out of the photo - I thought “I’m sure Bolt won by further than that…” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661/58 "2009-08-21T13:57:07Z")
And yes, times are rounded up, but if it’s dead on the “zero” thousandth then it stays down. Bolt’s time looks like a 19.190 to me. (The electronic clock initially stopped on 19.20.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-athletics-championship-spoilers/506661.md?page=2)