My old track coach sent me this and I thought it was nuts. This kid runs the 100 meters in 10.19 sec. He's 16 years old. He actually just ran a 10.01 sec yesterday. Ties him for the all - time jr record. Will be interesting to see if he's peaked out or still has room for improvement. The time for a kid that young is just nuts...

did he take a drug test? - I'll bet a lot that he was on wasabi!!!

hanky1;842118763 said:

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My old track coach sent me this and I thought it was nuts. This kid runs the 100 meters in 10.19 sec. He's 16 years old. He actually just ran a 10.01 sec yesterday. Ties him for the all - time jr record. Will be interesting to see if he's peaked out or still has room for improvement. The time for a kid that young is just nuts...

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:gobears:Can he catch a football?

80Bear;842118778 said:

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:gobears:Can he catch a football?

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"What's a football ?"

hanky1;842118763 said:

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My old track coach sent me this and I thought it was nuts. This kid runs the 100 meters in 10.19 sec. He's 16 years old. He actually just ran a 10.01 sec yesterday. Ties him for the all - time jr record. Will be interesting to see if he's peaked out or still has room for improvement. The time for a kid that young is just nuts...

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Cool thanks!

Here's the 10.01. Kid has a phenomenal drive phase. He's got an okay start, but nothing special, but 20-60m or so he just continues to accelerate.

cubzwin;842118782 said:

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"What's a football ?"

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Actually, Japanese know American football. It's not super popular, but they definitely know about it. There are 12+ college teams that play. They've been actually playing since the 30's. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1076677/1/index.htm

There's been over a dozen NFL games played there.
There's even a long running Japanese comic series based on FB ("Eyeshield").
So probably just a bit less known than soccer here.

Pretty interesting.

Trying to eliminate any possibilities that would keep this from being amazing:

- Any chance the clock is "rigged" for publicity purposes? Highly doubtful.

- PEDs? Well, his musculature doesn't really look that highly developed. I dunno.

- Could he actually be older? Well, in the vid from Vandalus he is noted as 17, but...

Questions:

What is the Japanese national record for 100m? What are, say, their top ten times by different individuals? (just curious, 'cause I don't recall any top Japanese sprinters before)

How soon will he start running against top international competition? (I'm guessing this summer.)

Vandalus, as one of our resident track experts, would you care to talk a little about what physical characteristics, at the elite level, make one person faster than another?

Would this guy care to continue his athletic and academic education at the University of California, Berkeley?

Big C_Cal;842119129 said:

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Pretty interesting.

Trying to eliminate any possibilities that would keep this from being amazing:

- Any chance the clock is "rigged" for publicity purposes? Highly doubtful.

- PEDs? Well, his musculature doesn't really look that highly developed. I dunno.

- Could he actually be older? Well, in the vid from Vandalus he is noted as 17, but...

Questions:

What is the Japanese national record for 100m? What are, say, their top ten times by different individuals? (just curious, 'cause I don't recall any top Japanese sprinters before)

How soon will he start running against top international competition? (I'm guessing this summer.)

Vandalus, as one of our resident track experts, would you care to talk a little about what physical characteristics, at the elite level, make one person faster than another?

Would this guy care to continue his athletic and academic education at the University of California, Berkeley?

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In Japan, you are one when born. So the 17 could be based on Japanese years. Thus, he'd be 16 in our way of telling age.

My first reaction: was the timing system checked for accuracy? Second: did they re-measure the course?

I'm not too surprised. If somebody's wheels are fast enough out of the blocks or in the mid stretch. In HS, I could run the 40 in the 4.25-4.3 range (shorter fast legs and I had very large thigh muscles), but due to my shorter stride, I gotten eaten up down the stretch past 60yds. Still, my 100 time was 9.9-10.0 non-wind aided. Actually ran against Millard Hampton in the 220 back in the mid 70s.

BTW, it is quickness and fast foot movement that counts, not down the stretch speed (for the most part). That is how you separate from DBs.

That looks like a pretty standard track set-up; track, timing, marshals, distances. That said, I've been in a 100 yard race where the distance was screwed up...upward. Someone started the race at the 120 hurdles start, didn't move the blocks. It was weird because you're not ready for the extra 20 yards and when you see 12.3 seconds, etc., you think WTF? Yup, low level CIF dual meet stuff.

jy1988;842119166 said:

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I'm not too surprised. If somebody's wheels are fast enough out of the blocks or in the mid stretch. In HS, I could run the 40 in the 4.25-4.3 range (shorter fast legs and I had very large thigh muscles), but due to my shorter stride, I gotten eaten up down the stretch past 60yds. Still, my 100 time was 9.9-10.0 non-wind aided. Actually ran against Millard Hampton in the 220 back in the mid 70s.

BTW, it is quickness and fast foot movement that counts, not down the stretch speed (for the most part). That is how you separate from DBs.

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Let me get this straight, in high school you actually have a 100 time that beats the all-time Jr. world record?

Big C_Cal;842119129 said:

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Pretty interesting.

Trying to eliminate any possibilities that would keep this from being amazing:

- Any chance the clock is "rigged" for publicity purposes? Highly doubtful.

- PEDs? Well, his musculature doesn't really look that highly developed. I dunno.

- Could he actually be older? Well, in the vid from Vandalus he is noted as 17, but...

Questions:

What is the Japanese national record for 100m? What are, say, their top ten times by different individuals? (just curious, 'cause I don't recall any top Japanese sprinters before)

How soon will he start running against top international competition? (I'm guessing this summer.)

Vandalus, as one of our resident track experts, would you care to talk a little about what physical characteristics, at the elite level, make one person faster than another?

Would this guy care to continue his athletic and academic education at the University of California, Berkeley?

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Not necessarily in order, and way too long but here we go. And you asked, so I'm going overboard admittedly because no one asks about track ;-) :

As an initial comment - I should make clear. The 10.01 is completely a legit time. It's been IAAF certified. In fact, it's the fastest time run in the world - by anyone - this year, according to the IAAF website:http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2013 So yeah, this is a huge deal. That looked to be a very professional set up for a meet. That's a legit course and legit time. This isn't some hand timed race at the local HS with your English teacher doing the hand timing. This was a big time meet.

1) After I posted the video of the 10.01, I looked him up on wikipedia and realized that the 10.19 was actually run back in November 2012 (when he was 16). He was born Dec. 15, 1995, and the 10.01 was run April 29. Ages 16 and under is considered "youth" whereas 19 and under (on Dec. 31 of the competition year) is considered Junior.

2) Something to consider: I don't know what Japanese high school track and field scheduling is like, but if it's anything like the US, and track and field in general, this is right about the time to start changing the workouts to start your peak. You've built base during the winter (fall if you are a collegiate or professional) and started to slowly change the tempo and distance of workouts to back off intensity and allow for top speed to be elicited. In HS, you obviously want to peak right in time for State qualifications. If you are elite (professional), your peak time is late summer typically (Olympics, US Nationals, World T&F Championships, Pan-Am games, etc.). In any event - my guess is that he's peaking right now.

3a) To give a comparison - his time as an (old) 16 year old of 10.19 broke the Asian junior record which was previously 10.21 and broken in 2012 - also held by a Japanese kid. The prior record was broken in 2011, also by a Japanese kid...

3b) His 10.01 ties the junior world record with Darrell Brown (PR 9.99) and Jeff Demps (PR 9.96). i.e., faster than Bolt at the same age. Also of note Asian Continent world record, for all ages, is 9.99 held by a guy from Quatar... So in a word, as best I can tell, he is if not the fastest Japanese sprinter of all time, only off by .02 seconds.

However, as you will note - the two other holders of the junior WR didn't get appreciably faster as they got older.

4) Re body types, it's hard to answer since speeds at this age are so rare. I wish I had a video or picture of Demps at 17 when he ran his 10.01 also to compare. My sense is, based on how yoked Demps is now, and because he was playing football, that he was bulkier than this kid. This guy's body reminds me of my good buddy Vince Williams (went to SC, from my neighborhood and a former teammate of mine along with Felix Sanchez, the double gold medalist in the 400m hurdles) and to be honest, me. Vince ran a Pr of 10.14/20.50, but we had literally the exact same body, both 5'10.5" and 157. Skinnish but with a lot of lean muscle in the legs. I'm sure if someone did a study to find the average of all the top 50 sprinters in the world, your average height would be between 5'9-5'11. I rarely felt short on the track, and I can't tell you the number of tall dudes that I ran down from behind in the relays.

As a general rule, almost all great sprinters have a few characteristics, of which Bolt is the complete and utter exception. You have to be tall enough to have a good stride length, but not too tall that you can't have a fast enough stride frequency. Speed, at its basic level, is about stride length times stride frequency. For some reason, even though Bolt is 6'4", he is able to get a good if not great start, which sets him up during the later stages because while his frequency might be just slightly less than another elite sprinter, he's got a WAY longer stride length, so he just pushes past people like they are standing still.

Most guys at the elite level are bulked up (way too much in my opinion), with some notable exceptions of true lean muscle athletes. I think, regrettably, that there is a lot of PED's in sprinting, always has and always will be, so you see guys that are just jacked unnecessarily. This guy looks pretty lean to me. He also looks older and/or more developed than a typical 17 year old track kid (certainly more than I ever did at that age). Given his time, he's a shoe in to run for Japan this summer internationally. He will probably not run this fast however - given my suspicion that he's peaking now because he likely won't be able to keep it up all through the summer, although who knows. He may not be peaking now?

He is pretty well coached from what I can see. If you re-watch the closeup that's done in slow mo, he keeps his gaze/head down for at least 15m-20m, which is all coaching. No one does that naturally, you have to be taught to do that. That phase of the race you want to be explosive and keep a low center of gravity. Too often people want to stand up out of the blocks and start running with an elongated stride, which is exactly what you shouldn't do.

And lastly ... in case anyone else is still reading... jesus, I've written a dissertation. Just for fun, I went back and looked at what Bolt was doing at the same age. bolt wasn't even running the 100m. I forgot this until I just looked. In 2003, when he was 17/18 he was strictly a 200/400 guy. PR of 20.13 (1st in world juniors, 9th overall), and 45.35 (4th in the world juniors).

Then, in 2004 he runs a 19.93, again first in the world for a junior, but second overall in the world for all athletes. Still - no 100m times in the IAAF archives. It took until 2007 for him to run in the 100m, when he dropped a 10.03, for 12th in the world at 21 years old. The next year he broke the world record with a 9.69 in Beijing... In the span of two years he put it all together and got his start down to the point that he was crushing the record books.

StillNoStanfurdium;842119189 said:

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Let me get this straight, in high school you actually have a 100 time that beats the all-time Jr. world record?

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Given the dates he's talking about 100 yards.

Vandalus;842119202 said:

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Given the dates he's talking about 100 yards.

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Ah yeah, and on re-reading since he talks about the 40-yard then 60-yard dashes it definitely makes sense.

Vandalus;842119200 said:

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Not necessarily in order, and way too long but here we go. And you asked, so I'm going overboard admittedly because no one asks about track ;-) :

As an initial comment - I should make clear. The 10.01 is completely a legit time. It's been IAAF certified. In fact, it's the fastest time run in the world - by anyone - this year, according to the IAAF website:http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2013 So yeah, this is a huge deal. That looked to be a very professional set up for a meet. That's a legit course and legit time. This isn't some hand timed race at the local HS with your English teacher doing the hand timing. This was a big time meet.

1) After I posted the video of the 10.01, I looked him up on wikipedia and realized that the 10.19 was actually run back in November 2012 (when he was 16). He was born Dec. 15, 1995, and the 10.01 was run April 29. Ages 16 and under is considered "youth" whereas 19 and under (on Dec. 31 of the competition year) is considered Junior.

2) Something to consider: I don't know what Japanese high school track and field scheduling is like, but if it's anything like the US, and track and field in general, this is right about the time to start changing the workouts to start your peak. You've built base during the winter (fall if you are a collegiate or professional) and started to slowly change the tempo and distance of workouts to back off intensity and allow for top speed to be elicited. In HS, you obviously want to peak right in time for State qualifications. If you are elite (professional), your peak time is late summer typically (Olympics, US Nationals, World T&F Championships, Pan-Am games, etc.). In any event - my guess is that he's peaking right now.

3a) To give a comparison - his time as an (old) 16 year old of 10.19 broke the Asian junior record which was previously 10.21 and broken in 2012 - also held by a Japanese kid. The prior record was broken in 2011, also by a Japanese kid...

3b) His 10.01 ties the junior world record with Darrell Brown (PR 9.99) and Jeff Demps (PR 9.96). i.e., faster than Bolt at the same age. Also of note Asian Continent world record, for all ages, is 9.99 held by a guy from Quatar... So in a word, as best I can tell, he is if not the fastest Japanese sprinter of all time, only off by .02 seconds.

However, as you will note - the two other holders of the junior WR didn't get appreciably faster as they got older.

4) Re body types, it's hard to answer since speeds at this age are so rare. I wish I had a video or picture of Demps at 17 when he ran his 10.01 also to compare. My sense is, based on how yoked Demps is now, and because he was playing football, that he was bulkier than this kid. This guy's body reminds me of my good buddy Vince Williams (went to SC, from my neighborhood and a former teammate of mine along with Felix Sanchez, the double gold medalist in the 400m hurdles) and to be honest, me. Vince ran a Pr of 10.14/20.50, but we had literally the exact same body, both 5'10.5" and 157. Skinnish but with a lot of lean muscle in the legs. I'm sure if someone did a study to find the average of all the top 50 sprinters in the world, your average height would be between 5'9-5'11. I rarely felt short on the track, and I can't tell you the number of tall dudes that I ran down from behind in the relays.

As a general rule, almost all great sprinters have a few characteristics, of which Bolt is the complete and utter exception. You have to be tall enough to have a good stride length, but not too tall that you can't have a fast enough stride frequency. Speed, at its basic level, is about stride length times stride frequency. For some reason, even though Bolt is 6'4", he is able to get a good if not great start, which sets him up during the later stages because while his frequency might be just slightly less than another elite sprinter, he's got a WAY longer stride length, so he just pushes past people like they are standing still.

Most guys at the elite level are bulked up (way too much in my opinion), with some notable exceptions of true lean muscle athletes. I think, regrettably, that there is a lot of PED's in sprinting, always has and always will be, so you see guys that are just jacked unnecessarily. This guy looks pretty lean to me. He also looks older and/or more developed than a typical 17 year old track kid (certainly more than I ever did at that age). Given his time, he's a shoe in to run for Japan this summer internationally. He will probably not run this fast however - given my suspicion that he's peaking now because he likely won't be able to keep it up all through the summer, although who knows. He may not be peaking now?

He is pretty well coached from what I can see. If you re-watch the closeup that's done in slow mo, he keeps his gaze/head down for at least 15m-20m, which is all coaching. No one does that naturally, you have to be taught to do that. That phase of the race you want to be explosive and keep a low center of gravity. Too often people want to stand up out of the blocks and start running with an elongated stride, which is exactly what you shouldn't do.

And lastly ... in case anyone else is still reading... jesus, I've written a dissertation. Just for fun, I went back and looked at what Bolt was doing at the same age. bolt wasn't even running the 100m. I forgot this until I just looked. In 2003, when he was 17/18 he was strictly a 200/400 guy. PR of 20.13 (1st in world juniors, 9th overall), and 45.35 (4th in the world juniors).

Then, in 2004 he runs a 19.93, again first in the world for a junior, but second overall in the world for all athletes. Still - no 100m times in the IAAF archives. It took until 2007 for him to run in the 100m, when he dropped a 10.03, for 12th in the world at 21 years old. The next year he broke the world record with a 9.69 in Beijing... In the span of two years he put it all together and got his start down to the point that he was crushing the record books.

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Vandalus

Always enjoy your track posts. You mentioned in an earlier post that the 16 year old had an average start. How much time could he shave off his PR if he worked on his start?

good stuff and presentation.. got lucky re-locating this nearly a year later:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/the-100-meter-dash-one-race-every-medalist-ever.html?_r=0

record times broken down by age are compared near the 1:40 min mark.

jyamada;842119220 said:

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Vandalus

Always enjoy your track posts. You mentioned in an earlier post that the 16 year old had an average start. How much time could he shave off his PR if he worked on his start?

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Really tough question to answer, especially because I'm not a professional coach (or a coach at any level) so I don't have experience with young athletes and knowing how much faster they can get, and where those speed increases can come from. And to be clear, my only comparison was his competition that I could see in those videos. I don't know how fast they ran that day, but relative to his competition (and it seemingly was a very high level high school track meet - I would bet the equivalent of a California state meet) he was just as good as everyone else through 15m. It was the latter half of his drive phase and into his stride phase where he just continued to accelerate and pull away. Basically from 15m-60m he dominated, and the last 20m or so the rest of the pack stayed consistent with him - so his top end speed is not dominating the field, but it's his rate of acceleration that is so phenomenal.

The thing is, the first 15m of a 100m is all about raw explosive power and reaction to the gun. As a 16-17 kid, he still has theoretically a lot more explosive power to gain as he gets older. It would be really interesting to see him run against older athletes. My bet is that they would have him out of the blocks, but he would catch up to even it up by 60m, and then it would be about who is able to hold on longer. It's really, really hard for me to answer with an actual time though - I would just be guessing to be honest.