by RBR Admin
Usain Bolt, 100 meters, photo by PhotoRun.net
Usain Bolt won the 100m, 200m and anchored th4 4x100m team to victory in Rio. Then, he tried a javelin one night goofing off. His goofing off was pretty good, and it created a social media firestorm: what if Usain tried the decathlon? Here is how something goes viral!
by Kylee O’Connor
On a day where Usain Bolt didn’t even compete, the exuberant Jamaican still stole the spotlight.
After winning his ninth gold medal on Friday, Bolt decided to move over to field events and try out the javelin. Late into the night, while few people other than the volunteers were around, Bolt unleashed a throw or two. And apparently, his throws were pretty successful, allegedly throwing roughly 56 meters or over 183 feet. This news began to emerge on social media Saturday morning and spread like wildfire throughout the day.
Usain Bolt just threw the javelin 56 meters while messing around with volunteers in a darkened Olympic Stadium. Really.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) August 20, 2016
Usain Bolt celebrated his ninth #gold by throwing a javelin https://t.co/MZR0mfRtjd pic.twitter.com/JgEVN3Z65w
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 21, 2016
Andre De Grasse came in right behind Bolt to place silver in the 200-meter final. His coach, Stuart McMillan, was also in attendance to see Bolt’s javelin heave.
So Bolt just threw the javelin 56m pic.twitter.com/O8AUibQIuG
— Stuart McMillan (@StuartMcMillan1) August 20, 2016
Just saw @usainbolt bolt throwing the javelin at Olympic Stadium, after winning his 9th gold. It was longer than 1 of the decathlete’s marks
— John Pye (@byJohnPye) August 20, 2016
There has been a frequent debate about how fast Bolt could run a 1,500. With these decent javelin skills, the debate has begun about how well Bolt could do in another event: the decathlon. The two-day event, which is made up of ten different disciplines, includes Bolt’s marquee race, the 100-meter dash. So, obviously, he would score a record-breaking amount of points in that event, but what about the other nine? His 56-meter throw would have placed 22nd in the Olympic decathlon, just a few meters off of Ashton Eaton’s throw of 59.77 meters.
Decathlete @TFitz_SBTC talking to none other than Lane’s Grady O’Connor for the newest @WGA_Podcast #TrackTown16 pic.twitter.com/rTzrBuehdD
— Kylee O’Connor (@kyleethemightee) July 7, 2016
If Bolt can throw the javelin 56 meters with little to no practice, who knows what he could accomplish with some training. Eaton has been branded by many as the world’s greatest athlete with his decathlon world record and two gold medals. Bolt is the world’s greatest sprinter, but who knows what he could potentially accomplish in the decathlon. Could we see Bolt enter Tokyo 2020 in the decathlon? Probably not, but it would sure be fun to watch.
