He is, as far as we can tell, the fastest human who’s ever lived — in 2009, at a race in Berlin, he ran the 100-meter dash is 9.58 seconds. This translates to an average speed of just over 23 mph (with a top speed closer to 30 mph). His ’09 performance in Germany was .11 quicker than the 9.69 he ran at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the fattest chunk ever taken off a world record at that distance. Considering the unadulterated simplicity of his vocation and the historic magnitude of his dominance, it’s easy to argue that Bolt has been the world’s greatest athlete of the past five years. And yet there’s an even easier argument to make than that one: Within the next 10 years, Bolt’s achievements as a sprinter will be completely annihilated. This is not guaranteed, of course, but it’s certainly more plausible than speculative — for the past 30 years, the men’s record in the 100-meter dash has been assaulted so continually that many of its former record holders don’t even qualify as difficult answers to trivia questions. This was not always the case: Jim Hines broke the 10.0 barrier with a 9.95 at the (high-altitude) 1968 Olympics; that mark stood for 15 years before Calvin Smith ran a 9.93 (also at altitude) in Colorado Springs. But since 1983, the record has been shattered more than a dozen times. Ben Johnson’s steroid-fueled 9.83 in ’87 was the first massive blow, but eight others have chipped away at the record with increasing regularity (Bolt just happened to use a sledge hammer). The big-picture upshot to all this measured subtraction is simple: Over the past 40 years, man has improved his ability to run 100 meters by .37 of a second. That’s a rough average of .01 a year, but that kind of math is deceptively understated — though the year-to-year improvement isn’t exponential, it also isn’t gradual. The rate of change keeps accelerating. As of this June, 17 men had already run sub-10.0 100 meter dashes, the most ever in the span of a year (with six months still on the calendar). Were he to get in the same physical condition he was in 2009, most track experts concede that the 25-year-old Bolt has the potential to breach the 9.50 barrier at any moment. And this raises the central question fans of track and field have always wanted to know: Is there a ceiling to how fast a man can run? Will there be a day — maybe in 50 years, or maybe in 500 — when someone runs the 100-meter dash in 8.99 seconds? “In order to answer this question, you have to think like a sprinter. And sprinters believe that — someday — somebody will run the 100 meters and the clock will read 0.00.” Ato Boldon tells me this over the telephone. Boldon is now known as a track analyst for NBC and CBS, but he’s also a four-time Olympic medalist and the fastest man the island of Trinidad has ever produced (in 1998, he ran the 100 in 9.86). “And when a sprinter thinks like that, he’s not trying to trick himself. It’s how you have to think. This idea of human limitation is exactly what we’re competing against. It’s thinking about running a 8.99 that gets you down to 9.58. That’s how it works.” Obviously, it’s impossible to talk about sprinting records and human potentiality without mentioning steroids. It’s more than the rhino in the room; it’s possibly the reason the WR in the 100 didn’t move for 15 years and then started falling like an air conditioner shoved out an open window. But for the sake of this specific discussion, PEDs don’t really matter. It isn’t a moral (or even competitive) issue. The question is not what speed a man should run; the question is how fast a man could run, through any means necessary. Steroids tend to be a secondary issue for track fans, principally for two reasons: 1. Though nobody will ever talk about it on the record, PEDs have become an integral part of sprinting. It’s pretty much like cycling: There’s just an unspoken “everybody does it” concession. There are sanctioned rules, and athletes get penalized if they get caught breaking them. But nobody really worries about this, simply because … 2. People who love track want to see guys run fast. That’s the whole game. There is nothing else. The sport is not built on personal rivalries or constructed purity or nationalism or the import of tradition; the sport is solely driven by the excitement of people doing what no one has done before. In this one specific instance, the ends truly do justify the means. And unlike other sports, there’s no rhetoric or concern about steroids warping statistics, because the only stat that matters is who’s fastest right now. Once a record has been broken, it instantly becomes meaningless. Not even track historians use comparative times as a way to establish greatness. Easy example: Which of these men was the greatest sprinter — Jesse Owens (who won the 1936 Olympics with a time of 10.3), Carl Lewis (whose career best in the 100 was 9.86), or Leroy Burrell (who ran a 9.85)? Track and field is about running fast today. It’s a bottom-line endeavor. This is not to say that steroids don’t make debates about human speed complex, because they do. Around the same time Ben Johnson ran his (then unthinkable) 9.83, Florence Griffith-Joyner destroyed the women’s 100-meter mark with a 10.49, and that record has not been seriously challenged in the 23 years since. Was something happening with PEDs in the late 1980s that has since been removed from the sport? Why do men keep getting faster, but women do not? These are questions that science cannot seem to answer (or even guess at). “Bolt’s 9.58 is so low that perhaps no one gets close to it for a very long time, just
Category: Sports
The History Queens Park Rangers FC
By Michael Kachitsa The club was officially formed in 1882, under the name of St. Jude’s. Four years later, they merged with Christ Church Rangers and subsequently changed their name to Queens Park Rangers, due to most of their players hailing from the Queen’s Park district. The club became a member of the expanding Football League in 1920, but was not particularly successful during the decades that followed, spending most of their time in the lower ranks of English football. Their luck finally changed with the arrival of Alec Stock in 1959. Now regarded as the club’s greatest manager of all time, Stock made his presence known from the get-go; in the season that followed, QPR achieved their record victory by routing Tranmere Rovers 9-2. But it was not until 1967 that Queens Park Rangers really made a name for itself. The club won a double by placing first in the Third Division and defeating West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup final after being down 2-0 at halftime. The very next year, QPR managed to earn promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. The best result in the top league was reach in 1972 with a second place, one point after Liverpool. With the West London area overflowing with footballing tradition, it’s no surprise that Queens Park Rangers Football Club were mostly overshadowed by their neighbors during their lifespan. The club’s only major honor is the 1967 League Cup, but they do have a couple of Second Division titles to their name as well. QPR have a reputation of a nomadic club; during their early years, they have played at about twenty different grounds before, more or less, settling at Loftus Road in 1917. QPR should not be confused with Queen’s Park Football Club that plays in the Scottish League.
The History Notts County
By Michael Kachitsa With a foundation date of 1862, Notts County FC is the oldest professional football club in the world. Despite the early start, however, they haven’t managed to claim a top-flight title; two third places in Division 1 (1891 and 1901). Their greatest success arrived in 1894, when they won their only FA Cup. They’re nicknamed “The Magpies” for their black-and-white kits, which were adopted by Juventus in 1903. Following its foundation in 1862, Notts County initially focused on playing a game that they invented themselves. Once the Football Association was formed, they switched to football. Soon thereafter, their full-back Ernest Greenhalgh participated in the first-ever international match: England vs. Scotland. In 1888, Notts County was one of the 12 founding members of the Football League, finishing their first league season in 11th place. In 1891, the Magpies missed out on their first big chance to win a major trophy by losing 1-3 to Blackburn in the FA Cup finals. They made up for it three years later, with Jimmy Logan scoring a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers. This remains the only major trophy in the club’s history, as well as the first time that a team outside the top division won the FA Cup. After many years of playing at different home grounds, Notts County moved to Meadow Lane in 1910 for a long-lasting stay. Still, this didn’t stop the team from yo-yo-ing between the top two divisions of English football. In 1930, they were relegated to the Third Division for the first time, though they managed to bounce back the very next season. Notts County FC is probably more famous for its heritage than its merits. It is generally considered as the oldest English club and thus the oldest in the World. Sheffield Wednesday is, however, sometimes mentioned as the oldest club. Which of the both that is the oldest depends if the foundation for the Sheffield club is set to 1857 or 1867. About that the opinions divide, but the latter is the most recognized version. In 1941, Meadow Lane was hit by enemy bombing, and the stadium was subsequently closed. To this day, this remains the only season where Notts County played no football whatsoever. Following the end of WWII, Notts County returned to the public eye by paying a then-record fee of £20,000 for Chelsea’s Tommy Lawton. This resulted in bolstered attendance at Meadow Lane, which helped the club return to the Second Division in 1950. By the end of the ‘50s, however, Notts County lost the race for the city’s biggest club to Nottingham Forest. They were back in the Third Division by 1957, and were soon relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in 1959. The club continued to struggle during the ‘60s, with most of their efforts aimed at avoiding the embarrassment of having to apply for re-election.
The history of Paris Saint-Germain
By Michael Kachitsa For the longest time, Paris did not have a football club that truly belonged to the elite. That finally changed in 1970, when a group of businessmen went through with the plan of merging Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain into a single club named Paris Saint-Germain. (The year of establishment are somewhat debated though, since the club was affiliated with the Fédération française de football already in December 1969.) Not surprisingly, PSG immediately drew sympathies of the Parisian crowd, which was exalted to finally have a club that could contend for domestic trophies. Shortly after earning promotion to Ligue 1 in 1972, the club moved into the legendary Parc des Princes, which would serve as their home to this day. The early 80s saw PSG win their first major trophies by claiming back-to-back French Cups in 1982 and 1983. This naturally led to the club winning their first Ligue 1 title in 1986 and consequently trying their luck in European competitions, where they played a number of memorable matches but ultimately failed to advance past the quarter-final. It was during this period that PSG developed a penchant for attacking-minded football, which would play a large part in the club becoming fan favorites, both in France and abroad. Following the takeover by Canal+ in 1991, the club’s future was destined for greatness. With the new owners investing large sums of money into big-name signings such as George Weah and Raí, PSG quickly developed into one of the most dominant clubs in the country. In addition to claiming their second Ligue 1 trophy (1994), three French Cups (1993, 1995, 1998) and two League Cups (1995, 1998), PSG became the second French club to win a European trophy by defeating Rapid Wien in the 1996 Cup Winners’ Cup final. These golden years were followed up with a period of decline due to severe mismanagement and cracking under pressure in the title races. Even though the club had some Cup success during the 00s – including three French Cups and a League Cup – this period is mostly remembered for numerous crisis situations and problems with hooliganism. Their fortunes took a turn for the better after the club was bought by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011. Led by their new star, Zlatan Ibrahimović, PSG returned to the spotlight by winning three consecutive Ligue 1 titles from 2013 to 2015. They also added to their trophy collection by claiming another French Cup in 2015 and two more League Cups in 2014 and 2015.
The History of Newcastle United
By Michael Kachitsa The club was formed through a merger of two older Tyneside clubs: Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End. In order to signify the fusion, the newly formed club was named Newcastle United. Not long after that, Newcastle became known for their quick and attractive brand of football which paid dividends during their early years. After being admitted to the Football League in 1894, they earned promotion to the First Division in 1899. They would play at St. James’ Park, the oldest football ground in England, there matches were played already in the 1880s. The arrival of a new century proved to be a good omen for Newcastle. With a team full of English stars and international talent, Newcastle went on to dominate the First Division by winning the titles in 1905, 1907 and 1908. Strangely enough, this productive period also contained the lowest point in their history: a 9-1 drubbing to Sunderland in 1908. After claiming their first FA Cup trophy with a victory over Barnsley in the final, their promising run was cut short by the World War I. Post-war, the club returned in style with another FA Cup trophy in 1924. They followed it up by acquiring the talented Hughie Gallacher the following season; this would prove to be a shrewd business move, as Gallacher became the club’s captain and led the team to another League title in 1927. Newcastle won another FA Cup in 1932 before entering a mediocre period that would culminate in their relegation to the Second Division in 1934. Once again, the club bounced back after the war. Led by a future club legend Jackie Milburn, Newcastle returned to the top-flight in 1948 and won three FA Cups in the period between 1951 and 1955, in a streak that would earn them a reputation as Cup specialists. Even though the following couple of decades would see Newcastle making deep runs in both English Cups, additional silverware was hard to come by. In the early 90s, the club turned a new page by appointing Kevin Keegan as manager. The change of personnel immediately yielded results, as Newcastle stormed back to the top-flight in 1993. After hitting the jackpot with big-name signings such as David Ginola and Alan Shearer, Newcastle almost ended up overthrowing Manchester United in 1996 and 1997, finishing as runners-up in both occasions. They also lost the FA Cup finals in 1998 and 1999 before returning to relative obscurity at the turn of the century.
The History of Athletic Bilbao
By Michael Kachitsa While Athletic Bilbao was officially founded in 1903, its history goes a bit deeper than that. The then-new game of football was brought to the city of Bilbao by two different groups of people – the British shipyard workers and the Basque students returning from their studies in Britain (which is the reason for the English sounding Athletic instead for the Spanish sounding Atlético). Each of these two groups founded their own football club in 1898; it wasn’t until 1903 that they decided to combine their forces and settle on a merger that would lead to creation of Athletic Club. Among the Spanish cities, Bilbao is the one with perhaps the biggest football heritage and their club was dominant in the early history of the country. Led by the English manager Mr. Shepard the team won the two first Copa del Rey tournaments, in 1903 and 1904, and make it to the final in the two following editions. It was also in this city the first purpose-built football stadium, Estadio San Mamés, was constructed in 1913. Led by the visionary English coach Fred Pentland, Athletic won its first two La Liga titles in 1930 and 1931. As it turned out, British coaches were somewhat of a good charm for Athletic; the club continued to dominate the 30s (they hammered once Barcelona 12-1), and after a period with a Spanish manager Pentland returned. Athletic won two more La Ligas in 1934 and 1936, just before the outbreak of Spanish Civil. At this time General Franco enforced a de-Anglicization of the club’s name and the club became Atlético Bilbao for a period. The fans mostly remember the 40s and the 50s for one of the best forwards of that era, Telmo Zarra. Having made his debut in 1941, Zarra led the club to another La Liga in 1943, while, in the process, becoming Athletic’s top goalscorer of all time with 251 goals. Funnily enough, Athletic won its next La Liga in 1956, right after Zarra had left the club. After those glory days came a major dry spell, and the club only returned to the top echelon of Spanish football with Javier Clemente’s appointment as manager in 1981. His aggressive-minded style proved to be a very effective tactic, and Athletic won two successive La Liga titles (1983 and 1984) under his leadership. The team sometimes played astonishingly physical and especially the matches against Barca were fierce. Infamous is the 1984 Copa del Rey final which included what might have been the biggest scuffle on that level in the game in modern time. The fight that started on the field after the final whistle included flying kicks from some of the players. In the middle of the storm was Diego Maradona – that during the match time had been given a mean treatment from his opponents – for a while turned into a fighter There is a dispute between the club and the Spanish Federation (RFEF) regarding the numbers of Copas del Rey trophies Athletic have won. As “Club Bizcaya”, Athletic won arguably the first Copa del Rey, which was called the Copa de la Coronación in 1902. But the Federation claims it was a predecessor and not an official Copa del Rey. Source – https://www.footballhistory.org/club/athletic-bilbao.html
The history of Atlético Madrid
By Michael Kachitsa The club was founded in 1903, under the name of Athletic Club de Madrid. Its founders, three Basque students living in Madrid, considered the club a youth branch of Athletic Bilbao. The club first shirts with blue and white shirts were probably inspired by Blackburn Rovers. Eight years later they would change to red and white shirt and this time by the influence of Southampton. The heritage from the first kit lives on with the blue shorts. Following the end of the Spain civil war in 1939, Athletic was merged with a Zaragoza football club founded the same year, Aviación Nacional. The new club was named Athletic Aviación de Madrid. The merger quickly proved successful, as Athletic Aviación managed to win its first La Liga in 1940 and defend the title in 1941. In 1947, the club changed its name for the final time; it was henceforth known by its current name of Club Atlético de Madrid. The 50s started off well for Atlético Madrid, as the club won two more La Liga titles under the leadership of the Argentine Helenio Herrera. After his departure in 1953, however, the club had to settle for being the third best club in the country for the rest of the decade, behind the untouchable Real Madrid and Barcelona. The next two decades were dominated by a fierce rivalry between two Madrid clubs, Real and Atlético. With both clubs enjoying their primes, the Madrid derby was seen as a fight between the wealthy citizens and the working class. During these two decades, Atlético managed to win four La Ligas (1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977), five Copa del Rey trophies (1960, 1961, 1965, 1972, 1976) and a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1962. Under the management of Juan Carlos Lorenzo 1973–1975, Atlético would be granted the ill sounding nickname “animals”. The nicknamed came after the European Cup semi-final against Celtic. Atlético achieved a goalless away draw, but the match is more remembered for Atlético’s method of winning, which resulted in three Atlético players sent off, most of the other players seeing yellow cards and the opponents were given 51 free kicks. Atlético would after a win in the second leg advance to the final and there face Bayern Munich. It all ended with a victory for the Germans. The club had to wait until 1987 and Jesús Gil’s appointment for president for its next rise to prominence. Even though Gil started spending large amounts of money on big-name signings, his ruthless philosophy of changing the coaches at a rapid rate did not yield results right away. After having to settle for two Copa del Rey titles in 1991 and 1992, Atlético finally won its long-awaited ninth La Liga in 1996, following it up with another Copa del Rey trophy. Gil’s reign came to an end in 2000, due to many lawsuits against him and the club’s board. With a number of financial issues surrounding the club, Atlético was relegated the same year. Source – https://www.footballhistory.org/club/atletico-madrid.html
The History of Valencia CF
By Michael Kachitsa Even though the club was founded in 1919, it only moved into the world-famous Mestalla stadium in 1923. The first couple of decades of the club’s existence were not particularly fruitful, but things started to change after the Spanish Civil War had ended. The post-war period saw Valencia acquire taste for silverware, winning its first La Liga titles in 1942, 1944 and 1947 and two Copa del Rey trophies in 1941 and 1948. While the club had seen some cup success in the next two decades, they had to wait for Alfredo Di Stéfano to arrive at the club in order to win their fourth La Liga title. It came in 1970, the very first year of Di Stéfano’s tenure as manager. The famous Argentine player and coach also led the team to its first and only Cup Winners’ Cup title in 1980, in his second term with the club. Valencia’s glory days came at the turn of the millennium. First, however, they had to shake off their losing mentality; the club lost two successive Champions League finals, to Real Madrid in 2000 and Bayern Munich in 2001. The latter season also saw them slip to fifth place in La Liga after spending most of the season at the top of the table. The next four years more than made up for their woes, as Valencia won two La Ligas in 2002 and 2004 and a UEFA Cup in 2004. Not long after that, due to the rising financial troubles, the club had to start selling its best players in order to reduce their debts (also the building of the new stadium Nou Mestalla was came to a standstill due to the financial struggles). Even while teetering dangerously close to the relegation zone, however, Valencia managed to win its seventh Copa del Rey trophy in 2008. Source – https://www.footballhistory.org/club/valencia.html
The History of Real Betis
By Michael Kachitsa Betis was founded in 1907, under the name of Sevilla Balompié. In 1914, the club was merged with Betis Football Club, a breakaway from Sevilla FC. From that moment onwards, the club has been known as Real Betis Balompié. The club switched to their now-famous green and white jerseys in 1920. For most football fans around the globe, Real Betis (or with full name Real Betis Balompié) might be best known as the “other” Sevillan club. Indeed, their long-standing city rivalry with Sevilla FC makes for one of the fiercest and most historic derbies in Spanish football. And while Betis’ trophy room is not quite as stuffed, the club did win La Liga in 1935 and two Copa del Reys in 1977 and 2005. A cup final in 1931 and a promotion to the First Division in 1932 set the scene for Betis’ biggest success to date. With the Irish coach Patrick O’Connell at the helm, the club won its only La Liga title in 1935, beating Real Madrid by a single point. Unfortunately for the fans, this title was also the beginning of a slow decline for the club. Due to the dismantling of the winning team and a poor economic situation at the club, Betis found itself relegated to the Third Division in 1947. From a competitive standpoint, the seven years spent in the Third Division were the darkest period for the club. These were, however, the years of the so-called “Green March”; the loyal fans made sure their stadium was always filled to the brim, while at the same time showing up in large numbers for the away matches. With their unmitigated support, the club managed to return to the Second Division in 1954. Following a 21-penalty shootout against Athletic Bilbao, Betis won their first Copa del Rey in 1977. This trophy was soon followed by another financial crisis, but the club’s fans once again came to the rescue by raising 400 million pesetas. In 1992, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stepped in and saved the club from bankruptcy by becoming a majority shareholder. The club’s next trophy came in 2005. Led by the Balearic manager Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, the club won its second Copa del Rey by beating CA Osasuna 2-1 in the finals. Source – https://www.footballhistory.org/club/real-betis.html#:~:text=Betis%20was%20founded%20in%201907,and%20white%20jerseys%20in%201920.
The history of AC Milan
By Michael Kachitsa Not that many people know that one of the most famous Italian symbols like AC Milan was actually founded by two English expatriates, Herbert Kilpin and Alfred Edwards. The exact date was 13 December 1899. From the start, the club was partly a football and partly a cricket club – at this time, the club called itself Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club – but pretty soon football became predominant, and the club would later rebrand to Milan FC in 1919 (the name would change again, first to Milan Associazione Sportiva and later to Associazione Calcio Milan). Milan FC quickly established itself by winning their first Scudetto two years later, and then followed it up by another two in 1906 and 1907. After a split in the club which led to the founding of their arch-rivals Inter, however, Milan had to wait for over 40 years for their next title. It came in 1951, on the back of the famous Swedish trio known as Gre-No-Li: Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl (still the club’s top goalscorer with 221 goals) and Nils Liedholm. The following 20 years were much kinder to the Italian powerhouse, which won seven more Scudettos, two European Cups (the European Cup victory in 1963 was the first for an Italian team in the competition) and two Cup Winners’ Cups, as well as four Coppa Italia trophies. What followed was a period of decline. After the Totonero match-fixing scandal in 1980, players and officials had bet on games, Milan was one of the team punished and demoted to the second division (the president Felice Colombo was banned from the game for life). Even though they returned to Serie A the very next year, they were relegated again in 1982. They managed to claw their way back to the top division, but the club soon found itself on the brink of bankruptcy, before it was taken over by Silvio Berlusconi in 1986. Berlusconi’s appointment saw Milan return to their paths of glory. Helmed by the talented young coach Arrigo Sacchi, AC Milan quickly became a force of nature, winning their eleventh Scudetto in 1988 and two European Cups in the two years that followed. The performance in the 1988-89 edition was extra impressive with 5-0 against Real Madrid in the semi-final and then 4-0 in the final against Steaua București. The glorious Milan team, led by the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten, has been voted as the greatest team in the history of football. Besides the huge amount of talent on the field it was also a success that was due to Sacchi’s zonal marking system. The club’s dominance continued into the 90s with Fabio Capello installed as the new coach, with the outcome of a more defensive approach at the field. This period saw “Gli Invicibili”, as the club’s new nickname were, add five additional Scudettos to its tally, as well as another Champions League trophy with a memorable 4-0 rout over Barcelona in the final. The Dutch stars was gone, but other stars like Marcel Desailly, Dejan Savićević and Zvonimir Boban had replaced them. Source – https://www.footballhistory.org/club/milan.html