Can Usain Bolt run a 19.32?
In about 90 minutes, Usain Bolt will attempt to become the first man in 24 years to complete the 100/200 double in the Olympics. The question isn't whether Bolt will do so (he's a heavy favorite) or how much he'll win by (a lot), but whether Bolt can break Michael Johnson's world record of 19.32; a mark that was thought to be unassailable as recently as last week.
Bolt brought a sub-19.32 into question with his jaw-dropping 9.69 in the 100 earlier this week, a time that would have been faster had the 21-year old Jamaican not shut it down at the 80-meter mark. Johnson set the mark in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, wearing a pair of gold Nikes -- a style Bolt has mimicked in Beijing.
The 200 world record was the DiMaggio hitting streak of the track world; many imagined it wouldn't be approached for decades. If Bolt runs through the finish line, he has a realistic shot at lowering the mark.
Photo via Getty Images
