According to a list presented by the influential US magazine Track And Field News, Yohan Blake is moving up. On its Web site, the magazine listed the top 100 all-round sprinters in history and the young Jamaican appears at number 18. His lofty position follows his fine sprinting in 2010.
|
|
Training partners Blake and Bolt.
DPalmer photo
|
At the heart of the list is a performance comparison table compiled by the IAAF (the International Association of Athletics Federations). This table assigns point values to performances in every track and field event. For example, 9.58 for 100m is worth 1374 points while a time of 10.00 gets 1215 points.
Altogether, times of 10.00, 20.00 and 45.00 seconds garner 3624 points.
Usain Bolt, Blake’s illustrious training partner, heads the list with 3893 points. Blake’s 2010 personal best times in the 100 and 200 – 9.89 and 19.78 seconds – have boosted his score from 3448 at the end of 2009 to 3587.
Carl Lewis, the American sprint star of the 1980s, is just ahead on 3590.
Bolt and Blake aren’t the only Caribbean sprinters in the top 100. Jamaica’s Asafa Powell is number 6, with times of 9.72/19.90/45.94 and 3685 points, with Obadele Thompson of Barbados at 8 on 3653.
The 1968 Olympic 200m champion, Tommie Smith on 29 with 3551 points, ahead of Christopher Williams of Jamaica, who is 43rd on 3520, and Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago on 3498. Ato is number 56.
The Top 10 Personal bests Points
1. Usain Bolt 9.58/19.19/45.28, 3893
2. Michael Johnson 10.09/19.32/43.18, 3817
3. Tyson Gay 9.69/19.58/44.89, 3813
4. Xavier Carter 10.00/19.63/44.53, 3712
5. Michael Marsh 9.93/19.73/45.08, 3687
6. Asafa Powell 9.72/19.90/45.94, 3685
7. Wallace Spearmon 9.96/19.65/45.22, 3679
8. Obadele Thompson 9.87/19.97/45.38, 3653
9. Frank Fredericks 9.86/19.68/46.28, 3646
10. Dennis Mitchell 9.91/20.09/45.26, 3626
Other sprinters on the rise are the American Ryan Bailey who is number 42 with 3526 points, Jamaicans Nesta Carter, number 60 with 3486, and Mario Forsythe, number 94 with 3441 points.
The top 100 also includes Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis, the 2003 100m World Champion on 3481, and former Guyanese star James Gilkes on 3470.
By next year, there may be a new Jamaican name on the list. In 2010, Oral Thompson won the Jamaican national 400m title and set personal best times of 10.50, 20.55 and 45.50 seconds. Together, those marks garner 3216 points.
A look at the all-time top 10 reveals that the IAAF tables presume that the 100m is extremely difficult. In a comparison between Tyson Gay and Michael Johnson, the latter is far superior in the 200 and 400 but is 4 digits behind on points. However, if you add up their personal bests to see whose total time was faster, Johnson beats Gay 72.59 seconds to 74.16.
Hubert Lawrence, author of the "Champs 100" book, has been covering local and international athletics since 1987.