Who is the fastest athlete on the planet? Many might say Usain Bolt. He has, after all, run quicker than any person ever… 9.58 seconds for the 100m.
If you read that sentence above at a good pace, it will take you about 9.5 to 10 seconds, the same time (roughly) it took Bolt to stun the world in 2009. But is he the fastest athlete on the planet?
Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s semantics.
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He’s won hearts and broken records – but how will Usain Bolt be remembered?
While Bolt is most definitely the fastest person to ‘run’, the ‘unofficial’ title of fastest athlete might actually belong to a cyclist, a Dutchman called Harrie Lavreysen.
He’s a track cyclist who, in the flying 200m time trial, whizzed around a Velodrome in 9.088 seconds. It’s a niche world record, but nonetheless it’s raw power, strength and speeds in excess of 80kph (and a bike) combining to make an elite athlete very, very fast.
Thirty years ago track cyclists attempting this flying 200m world record were battling to break the 10-second barrier, but now, just like Bolt revolutionised the thinking of what’s possible in athletics, the pursuit for the modern-day sprint cyclist is not an elusive 10-second barrier, but to break nine seconds.
Earlier this year, British track sprinter Matt Richardson went faster than Olympic champion Lavreyson over the Flying 200m by four hundredths of a second, but crucially the record hasn’t been ratified by the UCI (Cycling’s World Governing Body) as he briefly strayed off the legal part of the track.
He’s taken the learnings, the knowledge needed and he now not only wants to break the Flying 200m World Record, but to be become the first ever to go under nine seconds.
So British Cycling are thinking outside of the box to challenge their riders. There’s a World Championships later this year, but no Olympics, so why not do something a little different?
On Thursday at a track in Konya, Turkey, three British riders along with just four support staff will take to an empty velodrome and try to bring back to the UK not just one, but THREE world records!
Richardson is one of course. That speed, the blink-of-an-eye world record he is chasing has him incredibly focused, obsessed even.
When asked what he wanted most, the world record or to break nine seconds, he told Sky Sports: “I’ll be disappointed if I don’t break the nine-second barrier, I want to go under.
“The world record is what it is, so if I go under nine (seconds) then I take the record, I want to be the first person ever to do that.
“I know it can be done, I was close (earlier this year) but now I have better knowledge of the track, I have better equipment and I’m riding at a good time of day.”
Richardson only began competing for Great Britain last year after the Paris Olympics where he won two silver medals and a bronze competing for Australia.
Since then, in GB colours (he was born in the UK), he’s won two golds on his debut at the Nations Cup and three sprint titles at the British Championships.
He’s not the only Brit wanting to re-write the record books in Turkey. Two riders will attempt new one-hour world records. Para-cyclist Will Bergfelt has a target of riding further than 47.569km in 60 minutes. This record in the C5 category has stood for 11 years, so there is confidence from within the British team that Bergfelt’s experience and technological advances mean he’ll not only beat the world record, but add greatly to a new one.
The one-hour record is, well, horrible. Horrible for the rider even though they love cycling.
It hurts both physically and mentally, and at any point during the 60 minutes on track any record attempt can go badly wrong if a balance isn’t struck between maximum speed and energy conservation.
In addition to Bergfelt’s C5 record attempt, Charlie Tanfield will attack Italian Filippo Ganna’s world record of 56.792km in an hour.
Great Britain’s Charlie Tanfield will attempt to break the men’s one-hour track record on Thursday
If he does set a new world record, he will pretty much be cycling a kilometre every minute he’s out on the track. He told Sky Sports: “I break it down into three parts, the first getting up to speed, the second winding it up and then the third part I’m pretty much at my maximum threshold for the last 30 minutes or so. It’s horrible.
“The last 10 minutes are just, well, horrible! I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk the next day or for a few days after that.
“All I want to do is do my very best. If I execute it well then I’ll be happy whatever.”
The three world record attempts by British Cycling take place on Thursday, August 14, at Konya, Turkey.
– 0800 (BST/UK): Will Bergfelt will attempt to break the C5 one hour track record.
– 1015 (BST/UK): Charlie Tanfield will attempt to break the men’s one hour track record.
– 1400 (BST/UK): Matt Richardson will attempt to break the Flying 200m Time Trial record.
