4 ms·

It's an interesting article, but this type of piece bugs me. It means to suggest that Bolt is not that hard a worker. Now, to the reader, that means grabbing a

by karzeem 17y ago

It's an interesting article, but this type of piece bugs me. It means to suggest that Bolt is not that hard a worker. Now, to the reader, that means grabbing a bag of Fritos and heading directly to YouTube. To Bolt, I'd be willing to bet, it means something like training for five hours a day instead if eight. I always admire high achievers who cop to having worked damn hard to get where they are. The article means to suggest otherwise, but I can't imagine Usain Bolt is anything even vaguely resembling lazy.

tassl 17y ago
There has been a "known fact" that training more always implies having better results. Assimilating the training is, at least, as important as the training itself, and you can't do that without proper rest. Track and field isn't an equation where if somebody does 9.58 in 100m (it's still unbelievable for me to say that time!) training 3h a day, he will do 9.10 training 8h. In Bolt case he is not only really well trained but also he is a superior human being in athletic terms. People that are training way harder than he is, will never be close to his PB. PS: yeah, I think that he will run under 43 seconds in 400m...
dwwoelfel 17y ago
I don't think the article implies that Bolt is not a hard worker. After reading the article, I think the title could be rephrased as: what would the world record be if Bolt ran as fast as he could for the entire race. Or even, what would you get if you combined the drive of Lance Armstrong with the ability of Usain Bolt?
- alonehereathome 17y ago
  A postive result at the next drug test!
  - chollida1 17y ago
    Unless I'm missing something, I don't think it's ever been proven that Bolt used Steroids.
    - ibsulon 17y ago
      No, just Lance Armstrong. (Many allegations have followed him.) To be fair, he's accused of blood doping, not steroids. Cycling seems to be governed by the phrase, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying."
      - goatforce5 17y ago
        The tests results won't be known for days, but it was a reminder of the barrage of doping tests that Armstrong has faced in France over the years. Armstrong has called himself the world's most-tested athlete, and last year faced dozens of doping tests - all negative - in his return from retirement. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/breakingnews/armstrong-tests-legs-in-4-day-mostly-flat-circuit-de-la-sarthe-race-in-northwest-france-89989307.html http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/breakingnews/armstro... How many times do pro-athletes in, say, baseball or football get tested in a year? http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/3732076442 http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/3732076442
        ibsulon 17y ago
        How many times was Marion Jones tested? He had BALCO-type money that could help evade the current state of the art in testing.
    - alonehereathome 17y ago
      I was referring to Lance's practices.
      - chollida1 17y ago
        Ah, sorry. I thought since Lance has been tested so many times and always declared clean,that you must have been refering to Bolt. :)
  - tel 17y ago
    I'd be fascinated to see how fast he could run if blood doped.
xiaoma 17y ago
>I always admire high achievers who cop to having worked damn hard to get where they are. The article means to suggest otherwise, but I can't imagine Usain Bolt is anything even vaguely resembling lazy. Sometimes the truth isn't what we want it to be. As a 12 year-old without track & field training or experience, he was the fastest boy in his school. His interest was in cricket, but once he got to high school, his cricket coach noticed his exceptional speed and encouraged him to do track. Within two years, he posted a time of 20.61s for a 200 meter race! That's faster than many of the 200m times posted in the 2008 Olympics. In fact, 20.61 would have been fast enough to qualify in 7 of the 8 heats. He did that at age 15. Think about it. Gladwell's 10,000 hours yarn is bullshit. There is talent, and Bolt's got so much of it that he's been regularly demolishing more experienced, harder working opponents for his entire career. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Usain-Bolt/biography/ http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Usain-Bolt/biograph... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSISS99256920080818 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSISS99256920080818
- philk 17y ago
  Gladwell's 10,000 hours yarn is bullshit. There is talent, and Bolt's got so much of it that he's been regularly demolishing more experienced, harder working opponents for his entire career. Good post. However, I think this needs to be clarified; running really fast is something that has a strong genetic component and a weak skill component. The idea that greatness is mostly the result of focused practice is more likely to hold true in fields with a strong skill component (for example learning to play the violin or writing code).
  - pavs 17y ago
    So I guess there is still hope that I can be the greatest programmer in the world and don't have to rely on my genes. Awesome :)
  - xiaoma 17y ago
    Musical talent may not have been the best example to choose to make Gladwell's point. Not only is genetics demonstrably important for musicians, but we even know that the strongly influencing genes come from a certain segment of chromosome 4. http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/musical-talent-genes-16460.html http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/musical-talent-genes-16460.ht... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/musical-talent-proves-to-be-air-on-a-gene-string-695379.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/musical-talent-pro... http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/080429_music-genes.htm http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/080429_music-genes.h...
petermarks 17y ago
Fritos and YouTube, no. Chicken McNuggets and Call of Duty, yes: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/eat-like-usain-bolt-nice-try-junior/article1256672/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships...
baddox 17y ago
It also suggests that because Bolt is talented, he is obligated to behave like an athletic commentator wants him to. What if he just didn't want to run at all? What if he wanted to be a software developer or a chef?

by karzeem 17y ago

tassl 17y ago

There has been a "known fact" that training more always implies having better results. Assimilating the training is, at least, as important as the training itself, and you can't do that without proper rest. Track and field isn't an equation where if somebody does 9.58 in 100m (it's still unbelievable for me to say that time!) training 3h a day, he will do 9.10 training 8h. In Bolt case he is not only really well trained but also he is a superior human being in athletic terms. People that are training way harder than he is, will never be close to his PB. PS: yeah, I think that he will run under 43 seconds in 400m...

dwwoelfel 17y ago

I don't think the article implies that Bolt is not a hard worker. After reading the article, I think the title could be rephrased as: what would the world record be if Bolt ran as fast as he could for the entire race. Or even, what would you get if you combined the drive of Lance Armstrong with the ability of Usain Bolt?

alonehereathome 17y ago
A postive result at the next drug test!
- chollida1 17y ago
  Unless I'm missing something, I don't think it's ever been proven that Bolt used Steroids.
  - ibsulon 17y ago
    No, just Lance Armstrong. (Many allegations have followed him.) To be fair, he's accused of blood doping, not steroids. Cycling seems to be governed by the phrase, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying."
    - goatforce5 17y ago
      The tests results won't be known for days, but it was a reminder of the barrage of doping tests that Armstrong has faced in France over the years. Armstrong has called himself the world's most-tested athlete, and last year faced dozens of doping tests - all negative - in his return from retirement. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/breakingnews/armstrong-tests-legs-in-4-day-mostly-flat-circuit-de-la-sarthe-race-in-northwest-france-89989307.html http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/breakingnews/armstro... How many times do pro-athletes in, say, baseball or football get tested in a year? http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/3732076442 http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/3732076442
      - ibsulon 17y ago
        How many times was Marion Jones tested? He had BALCO-type money that could help evade the current state of the art in testing.
  - alonehereathome 17y ago
    I was referring to Lance's practices.
    - chollida1 17y ago
      Ah, sorry. I thought since Lance has been tested so many times and always declared clean,that you must have been refering to Bolt. :)
- tel 17y ago
  I'd be fascinated to see how fast he could run if blood doped.

xiaoma 17y ago

>I always admire high achievers who cop to having worked damn hard to get where they are. The article means to suggest otherwise, but I can't imagine Usain Bolt is anything even vaguely resembling lazy. Sometimes the truth isn't what we want it to be. As a 12 year-old without track & field training or experience, he was the fastest boy in his school. His interest was in cricket, but once he got to high school, his cricket coach noticed his exceptional speed and encouraged him to do track. Within two years, he posted a time of 20.61s for a 200 meter race! That's faster than many of the 200m times posted in the 2008 Olympics. In fact, 20.61 would have been fast enough to qualify in 7 of the 8 heats. He did that at age 15. Think about it. Gladwell's 10,000 hours yarn is bullshit. There is talent, and Bolt's got so much of it that he's been regularly demolishing more experienced, harder working opponents for his entire career. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Usain-Bolt/biography/ http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Usain-Bolt/biograph... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSISS99256920080818 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSISS99256920080818

philk 17y ago
Gladwell's 10,000 hours yarn is bullshit. There is talent, and Bolt's got so much of it that he's been regularly demolishing more experienced, harder working opponents for his entire career. Good post. However, I think this needs to be clarified; running really fast is something that has a strong genetic component and a weak skill component. The idea that greatness is mostly the result of focused practice is more likely to hold true in fields with a strong skill component (for example learning to play the violin or writing code).
- pavs 17y ago
  So I guess there is still hope that I can be the greatest programmer in the world and don't have to rely on my genes. Awesome :)
- xiaoma 17y ago
  Musical talent may not have been the best example to choose to make Gladwell's point. Not only is genetics demonstrably important for musicians, but we even know that the strongly influencing genes come from a certain segment of chromosome 4. http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/musical-talent-genes-16460.html http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/musical-talent-genes-16460.ht... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/musical-talent-proves-to-be-air-on-a-gene-string-695379.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/musical-talent-pro... http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/080429_music-genes.htm http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/080429_music-genes.h...

petermarks 17y ago

Fritos and YouTube, no. Chicken McNuggets and Call of Duty, yes: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/eat-like-usain-bolt-nice-try-junior/article1256672/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships...

baddox 17y ago

It also suggests that because Bolt is talented, he is obligated to behave like an athletic commentator wants him to. What if he just didn't want to run at all? What if he wanted to be a software developer or a chef?