Run-Down Forums

[X King]

Don't fuss about any scientific measurements (or even laser gun speed readings), I just want pure opinions of the fastest ever when everything is taking into consideration...(era, effect on fellow athletes, demonstrations of speed, etc.)

Who is your pick for the fastest and why?

In my opinion I would say Tommie Smith...his 'Tommie Jets' are astounding, and just blew everyone away, I would say his mid-race explosion within his 19.83s in Mexico OG '68 was more impressive than Bob Hayes' Tokyo OG '64 anchor...

It may sound stupid, but just for the chance to see demonstrations of pure speed a 4x150m relay would be just hectic!

My teams:
Team 1;
1st leg; Mike Marsh
2nd leg; Michael Johnson
3rd leg; Carl Lewis
4th leg; Tommie Smith

Team 2;
1st leg; John Regis
2nd leg; Frankie Fredericks
3rd leg; Ato Boldon
4th leg; JJ Johnson

Team 3;
1st leg; John Carlos
2nd leg; Henry Carr
3rd leg; Pietro Mennea
4th leg; Joe Deloach

Any picks for teams???
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Anon.

[Conway]

Well X if we are talking about explosions of speed then I have to start by adding some names and deleting some names from those you have listed ...

I would delete MJ, Deloach, Regis, and Marsh ... While all were very good over 200 meters, it was not because of bursts/explosions of speed ... All ran very even paced 200 races ... And all depended on fast first 100s in their 200's ... None of these guys were running anyone down from way back ... Not even from close range actually ....

Then I would have to add Bob Hayes, Steve Williams, Clancy Edwards, and James Sanford to the conversation ... These guys all had afterburners ... And quite frankly of all the guys named my gut tells me that Steve Williams far and away had the best top end speed ... Unfortunately he was unable to prove so on a major stage other than the first World Cup ... So I typically defer to Tommie Smith as he did have Mexico City and a WR to his credit ... But having seen all but Bob Hayes live Williams was the most awesome in full flight ... Devastating in relays ...
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Dan]

Bob Hayes and Ben Johnson have to be very near the top of any list. I also put Donovan Bailey up there, probably on par with Carl Lewis and Mo Greene.

Conway's other favorites I have little direct experience with, so I can't much judge their relative worth...

Dan
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[Conway]

My 3rd choce would have to be James Sanford ... Lots of folks don't know it, but James out finished Carl on several occasions and was one of the few that could take him on head to head over 100 ... He too had an awesome turn of speed ....

I often think that Carl's top speed was over rated ... Calvin Smith was as fast in full flight ... If you watch races that they were both in Calvin closed as well as Carl did ... Unfortunately Calvin was a poorer starter than Carl was !!!! Calvin was the one quality sprinter that Carl could beat out of the blocks ...

The other thing that makes comparing difficult is that a lot of the better closers never got to have their races analyzed ... We have analyses on Bailey and Lewis and Ben and so we say they were the best ever with out having any quanitiative data on guys like Hayes, Williams, Sanford, and T. Smith ...

I think that is why a lot of today's younger fans act as if sprinting started in the 90's ... The only data they have is times and impediately poo poo hand times as no good ... And have nothing else to go on ....
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Dan]

Well, my data is races I've seen and can remember... For my money, no one was faster than Ben early, Donovan and Maurice mid, and Carl late. Doesn't mean there aren't/weren't faster ones, but at the respective strengths of their races, no one is going to better their top speed by much, if at all.

Dan
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