9.86...22.91m...now let's see someone rip a fast 400
On Monday morning, almost no one knew Michael Norman would be racing that day. By Monday afternoon, the entire track world knew he had run 9.86 for 100 meters -- the fastest time by anyone on Planet Earth since last year's World Championship final.
That's how track & field works these days. Someone does something incredible at some obscure meet -- like, say Ryan Crouserputting the shot 22.91 meters, tied for third-best in history, on Friday -- then the news trickles out on social media, and then we react to it. Brilliance can strike at any moment.
In fact, it's possible by the time you read this email, it already has (Norman and others were entered in another sprint meet in Texas on Thursday). And while it's nice to have results to get excited about, it's a reminder of just how badly we're missing the Diamond League right now. Despite its flaws, the DL is track's major league and something the entire world can experience live, collectively. As incredible as it was to watch Norman run 9.86 on amateur video, it can't compare to a race like Norman's showdown with Noah Lyles in Rome last year -- a major event, hyped ahead of time, that more than lived up to the billing.
The good news: the rescheduled Monaco DL meet is just three weeks away. Karsten Warholm, Timothy Cheruiyot, Joshua Cheptegei, Noah Lyles, and Sifan Hassan are among the megastars who have committed. Assuming all goes to plan, it will be the closest to normal anyone in the sport has felt since March. Let's hope we make it there okay.
Learn why 25 Nike athletes -- including Norman, Justin Gatlin, and Dalilah Muhammad -- raced five different times in five different "meets" on the same track on Monday. (Hint: $$$)
Norman's PBs of 9.86/19.70/43.45 place him in the discussion of history's most versatile sprinter with van Niekerk, Usain Bolt, and Michael Johnson. *MB: MICHAEL NORMAN 9.86!!!! (1.6).
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