Was Bolt the best of the decade?
LEBRON JAMES and Tom Brady are undeniably great sportsmen; however, their one-two finish in the Associated Press Athlete of the Decade vote may well bear examination. James, the basketball star now at the Los Angeles Lakers, and Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback, ply their trade in domestic American sports, and this vote by editors attached to the New York news agency may well reflect that familiarity. Therefore, it will be fascinating to see who gets the vote from around the globe.
It might at first seem strange that Usain Bolt, winner in the decade past of two Olympic sprint doubles and five individual World Championship gold medals, and Lionel Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or five times in the same period, could stand behind the two Americans when the past decade of global sport is reviewed.
Nevertheless, the best advice is to remember that viewpoints can vary. For example, 1.4 billion Chinese might vote for table tennis ace Ma Long. In the same decade, Ma took the men’s singles in the 2016 Olympics and played everyone off the table to win three straight World singles crowns. His last one came last year. After an injury-ruined build-up, he came back to best all comers in April. It was just like Bolt coming back from injury to pip Justin Gatlin in the 100m at the 2015 Worlds in Beijing, China. In that country, table tennis is big and Ma, an Olympic team gold medallist in both 2012 and 2016, is a superhero.
ONE REAL RIVAL
In track and field itself, Bolt has only one real rival for the Athlete of the Decade accolade. Like Bolt, American decathlete Ashton Eaton won gold at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Now retired, he also topped the World Championships in 2013 and 2015. While Bolt’s 100m and 200m records were set in 2008 and 2009, Eaton raised the decathlon record in 2012 and 2015 with scores over the mythical 9,000-point barrier.
At the 2012 Olympic Trials in Eugene, he upped the mark to 9,039. In Beijing, for the 2015 World Championship, Eaton tallied 9045 points. Stunningly, his two-day tour du force included a world decathlon best of 45 seconds flat in the 400m!
Bolt set no individual world records in the 2010 – 2019 decade, but according to the IAAF/World Athletics comparison table, he was superb at the 2012 Olympics. He won the 100m final with the secondfastest time ever run – 9.63 seconds. The tables say that clocking equates to 9361 points in the decathlon!
The tall man zipped 19.32 seconds in the 200m to complete the 2012 double. To match that, Eaton would need a score of almost 9,300 points. Christian Taylor of the USA and Mo Farah of Great Britain might be in the reckoning, too. Farah did the 5000m-10,000m double-double at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the 2013 and 2015 Worlds but his sit-and-kick tactics prevented really fast times. Taylor has triple jump gold medals from the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and four from the World Championships. Also, his 18.21m winner at the 2015 Worlds is just 8cm short of the world record.
More broadly, Bolt’s appearance at number three on the Associated Press Athlete of the Decade list is a major achievement. Except in an Olympic year, track and field can’t hold a candle to the popularity of the NBA and the NFL in America. In that context, Bolt’s presence in that top three is huge. He was simply that good.