{"id":1680,"date":"2012-10-30T19:41:14","date_gmt":"2012-10-31T02:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1680"},"modified":"2012-10-31T06:07:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-31T13:07:00","slug":"1680","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1680","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten 200 Meter Races of All Time – Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Usain<\/a>
\nNow that the 100 is out of the way it’s forward to the deuce – and frankly the 100 was easier! Here’s the deal. The issue is that this is not about individual performances, it’s supposed to be about the race – the entire race. That said, there have been many great performances where the overall race didn’t match up. Then there are some outstanding races where the times were not stellar – at least by today’s standards. <\/p>\n

So I’m guessing, even before I finalize this list, that there will be issues with it for some people. In the end, I think the list is solid and defensible. This event has been neglected throughout the years and run as an afterthought by many. The last half decade or so has seen times drop precipitously, but the lack of great head to heads has diminished many races – even in the major championships. We do get a lot of Bolt on the list, though not as high as some would think.<\/p>\n

All that said, there have been some great races and here are my choices for the 10 best in the modern era.<\/p>\n

1. 1996<\/a><\/strong> Olympics<\/strong> – After a lot of thought and mental wrestling, Atlanta gets the top spot. It wasn’t an easy choice however. At the end of the day, it was the best finish for a top three; a close finish among the rest off the field; and the game changer that was the winning and runner-up times – and the race was exciting. 19.32 was literally Beamonesque as it took a dozen years for the record to fall – yet it showed what was capable. Second place was just as important as it was faster than the record at the start of the year. And bronze in 19.80 was unheard of. The finish behind the medals was also close, though I would have liked something closer to 20.00. And one can only wonder how things would have turned out if Marsh had run to form.<\/p>\n

19.32 – Michael Johnson
\n19.68 – Frank Frederick
\n19.80 – Ato Boldon
\n20.14 – Obadele Thompson
\n20.17 -Jeff Williams
\n20.21 – Ivan Garcia
\n20.27 – Patrick Stevens
\n20.48 – Michael Marsh<\/p>\n

2. 2006<\/a><\/strong> Lausanne Grand Prix <\/strong>– Another game changing race and the only come from behind victory in the event for a race won under 19.70. When sub 20 was still a rare occurrence, and ten years after Atlanta, we get four men at 19.90 or better and the sterling come out of nowhere win by Xavier Carter. Atlanta showed what was possible, the 2006 season brought it into focus, and this race more than any other that season moved the event permanently into the New Millennium. Carter’s stretch run may be the most impressive ever in a major 200. Unfortunately he was not able to replicate and it became his Beamon moment in the sport.<\/p>\n

19.63 – Xavier Carter
\n19.70 – Tyson Gay
\n19.88 – Usain Bolt
\n19.90 – Wallace Spearmon
\n20.10 – Lashawn Merritt
\n20.18 – Francis Obikwelu<\/p>\n

3. 1968<\/a><\/strong> Olympics<\/strong> – After MUCH thought, the first sub20 in a major (Carlos had the first at the Trials), a WR, and a sizzling come from behind win by Smith, and a come from behind sneak in for the bronze medal, moved this race into the #3 spot. Great turn by Carlos, even greater stretch run by Smith – and Norman. Terrific action in the straight. And they revised the all time list. <\/p>\n

19.83 – Tommie Smith
\n20.06 – Peter Norman
\n20.09 – John Carlos
\n20.34 – Edwin Roberts
\n20.51 – Roger Bambuck
\n20.62 – Larry Questad
\n20.63 – Michael Fray
\n20.66 – Joachim Eigenherr<\/p>\n

4. 2001<\/a><\/strong> World Championships<\/strong> – No sub20, but too close and exciting to be lower. Kederis duplicated his come from behind win from Sydney running past the field in the closing meters. As he did so, the field bunched up on itself in a finish closer than the average 100 Meter final! If it had been sub20 of any kind it would have been number one. This was a great race by any definition.<\/p>\n

20.04 – Kostas Kenteris
\n20.20 – Chris Williams
\n20.20 – Shawn Crawford
\n20.20 – Kim Collins
\n20.22 – Christian Malcolm
\n20.24 – Stephan Buckland
\n20.25 – Kevin Little
\n20.38 – Marlon Devonish <\/p>\n

5. 1987<\/a><\/strong> World Championships<\/strong> – Again no sub20 – but then only recently is that a semi common phenomenon. It was another great finish however, under the spotlight of a World Championship. This time only .02 separated the medals. Another .03 separating the next three finishers. Not quite as close as Edmonton, but still worthy of a 100 meter final.The win also gave Smith the first set of back to back wins at Worlds in the event against one of the more solid fields in the 80’s.<\/p>\n

20.16 – Calvin Smith
\n20.16 – Giles Queneherve
\n20.18 – John Regis
\n20.22 – Robson da Silva
\n20.23 – Vladimir Krylov
\n20.25 – Floyd Heard
\n20.45 – Pier Francisco Pavoni
\n20.75 – Atlee Mahorn <\/p>\n

6. 2009<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 World Championships<\/strong> – The WR race garners this spot on the strength of the three 19.8s that followed Bolt’ s massive lead. The gap between Bolt and the field was just too big to call this a race, but with, five men under 20, this race had to make the list. I know many look at 19.19 and say great race – and it was for Bolt. Unfortunately everyone else was along for the ride.<\/p>\n

19.19 – Usain Bolt
\n19.81 – Alonso Edward
\n19.85 – Wallace Spearmon
\n19.89 – Shawn Crawford
\n19.98 – Steve Mullings
\n20.39 – Charles Clark
\n20.61 – Ramil\u00a0 Guliyev
\n20.68 – David Alerte<\/p>\n

7. 1988<\/a><\/strong> Olympics <\/strong>– How about a major upset at near WR time? That’s what we got in Seoul when Deloach repeated his Trials win over Lewis at the Games just .03 off the WR – with Lewis only .04 back. The race for bronze was also close, and was near 20.00, but the rest of the field wasn’t strong enough to move this race up. <\/p>\n

19.75 – Joe Deloach
\n19.79 – Carl Lewis
\n20.04 – Robson da Silva
\n20.09 – Linford Christie
\n20.39 – Atlee Mahorn
\n20.40 – Giles Queneherve
\n20.51 – Michael Rosswess
\n20.58 – Bruno Marie Rose<\/p>\n

8. 2011<\/a><\/strong> Brussels Diamond League<\/strong> – On the list, off the list. I’ve played that game over and over. At the end of the day the fact that it is the best 1,2 finish ever in a head to head put it on the list. Another pair of\u00a0 sub 20’s helped, though they were too far back to matter. This race shows just how much the Circuit is missing by not getting stronger fields and featuring the event. All that said the race between Blake and Dix was classic!<\/p>\n

19.26 – Yohan Blake
\n19.53 – Walter Dix
\n19.91 – Nickel Ashmeade
\n19.97 – Jaysuma Ndure
\n20.41 – Rondell Sorrillo
\n20.57 – Ainsley Waugh
\n20.73 -Jonathan A strand
\n20.74 – Rytis Sakalsuskas<\/p>\n

9. 2012<\/a><\/strong> Olympics<\/strong> – The “magic” number 19.32 appears on the list a second time as Bolt finishes in the identical time that MJ made famous. The difference now is that the WR had been lowered, and the places behind the first two are not as impressive in 2012 with a huge gap back to bronze and only four under 20. Still that 1,2 finish is the best ever – I just wish the rest of the field had finished better.<\/p>\n

19.32 – Usain Bolt
\n19.44 – Yohan Blake
\n19.84 – Warren Weir
\n19.90 – Wallace Spearmon
\n20.00 – Churandy Martina
\n20.19 – Christophe Lemaitre
\n20.57 – Alex Quinonez
\n20.69 – Anaso Jobodwana<\/p>\n

10. 2011<\/a><\/strong> World Championships<\/strong> – Another big win for Bolt with the field stretched out behind him. Almost too stretched out to make the list as the race was not very exciting. However, strength of results slipped it in, with three men at 19.80 or better, and four under 20.00. <\/p>\n

19.40 – Usain Bolt
\n19.70 – Walter Dix
\n19.80 – Christophe Lemaitre
\n19.95 – Jaysuma Ndure
\n20.29 – Nickel Ashmeade
\n20.31 – Bruno de Barros
\n20.34 – Rondell Sorrillo<\/p>\n

That was difficult. I can almost imagine what the women’s list will look like – but let’s give it a shot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that the 100 is out of the way it’s forward to the deuce – and frankly the 100 was easier! Here’s the deal. The issue is that this is not about individual performances, it’s supposed to be about the race – the entire race. That said, there have been many great performances where the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sa3DCY-1680","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1680"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1690,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680\/revisions\/1690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}