World's Fastest Man on 2008 Biejing Olypmics

By Bill Fitzgerald

Why is the 100 meters champion called the World's Fastest Man? Nobody calls Cesar Cielo Filho the World's Fastest Swimmer.

Wouldn't it be great if the World's Fastest Man was determined like the World's Strongest Man? But what are the sprinting equivalents of the Fridge Carry and the Pillars of Hercules? Instead of just racing 100 meters against one another, the runners could compete in a variety of sprint events, like say, trying to outrun a line of burning oil or racing against cheetahs and greyhounds.

Unfortunately, outside of the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony, the Olympic Games are not known for creativity (unless you count the scoring in boxing and gymnastics). So here's a look at what you can expect in the men's 100 meter final.

First of all, the schedule. According to NBC, the semifinals will be run Saturday morning at 8:13 (EST) and the finals at 10:30 a.m., but neither will be shown until primetime Saturday night. If you don't want to know the winner before then, you'd better lock yourself in the bathroom all day and not take any phone calls.

Now, onto the competitors. This year's 10 fastest times were run by five men. World record holder Usain Bolt has the top two and two others. American Tyson Gay has two as does Bolt's Jamaican teammate Asafa Powell. If anyone besides these big three wins this thing, it will be the biggest racing upset since the tortoise took down the hare. (The other two in this year's top 10 are Americans Travis Padgett and Darvis "Doc" Patton, and Padgett is not in the event.)

Bolt is the obvious favorite with Powell the second choice. Gay is the only man other than Bolt who has run under 9.8 seconds but the injury to his hamstring at the Olympic Trials has to temper expectations. Others to watch include the Netherlands Antilles Churandy Martina, whose website dubs him the "Fastest Sprinter of the Dutch Kingdom." (Catchy, no?) Martina ran the first sub 10-second time of his career in the qualifying rounds as did Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson, the collegiate national champion from Louisiana State University, but 9.9 is a long way from 9.72.

Prediction? Jamaica's best one-two punch since Bob Marley and Peter Tosh go gold and silver, and then they have a big party. But they'd have no chance in the Man vs. Beast relay against the greyhound and the cheetah.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Nuts-about-Bolt-100-meter-dash-preview?urn=oly,101199