By Jack Butler
The 100-meter dash is often decided by hundredths of a second. When a race ends in 10 or 11 seconds, every swing of the arms, rotation of the legs or position of the feet matter.
But results are dictated by work beyond the 11-second whirlwind of the race. Preparation, workouts and proper recovery can create, at the least, a hundredth of a second difference.
On Saturday’s women’s 100-meter dash, Morolake Akinosun won with a time of 10.94 seconds. She was rested, fresh and ready to go. For Tianna Bartoletta, one of the favorites in the event, competing in the long jump a day prior sapped her energy, and she finished sixth in 11.15.
Murielle Ahoure finished second with a time 10.96. Michelle-Lee Ahye placed third in 10.97. Both are season best times.
Akinosun has been racing well in her first season as a professional. The former Texas Longhorn ran a season best 11.06 a week ago at a meet in Kingston, Jamaica. On Saturday, the 10.94 is the best time of her life.
So, what has been working in training that led to this recent success?
“Believe it or not, I haven’t trained much the last two weeks,” Akinosun said. “In the last two weeks, I’ve probably done like two days of actually training. I think it’s just the rest. My body knows what it’s doing.”
No workouts meant no drop off in confidence for Akinsoun.
“I was just really focused on making sure I got out of the blocks and was in the race,” Akinosun said. “I have a really strong finish, so I was confident that if I could be in the race, in the mix, at the 40 [meter] mark, at the 60 [meter] mark, that I could pull through.”
She pulled through, and she needed it after her start. Her reaction time of .176 was the sixth fastest, but it was her strong finish that gave her the victory.
Bartoletta was one of two runners whose reaction time was slower than Akinosun’s. Not surprising given that Bartoletta was tired.
She is a star in both the 100 meters and the long jump. Bartoletta was the first leg in the USA’s 4×100 team in both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. She won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics in long jump, and on Friday night at the Prefontaine Classic she placed second in the event with a jump of 22 feet, 5 inches.
This early in the season, however, she is not in good enough shape to compete well in both events, especially on back-to-back nights. She entered the 100 meters with a personal best time of 10.78 run just one year ago.
“It went OK, but I’m tired and I’m not in the same kind of shape that I was last year as far as doing two events in the same meet,” Bartoletta said. “It’s just one of those days. Not bad and not great.”
Competing on consecutive days throws off Bartoletta’s routine, something many athletes cherish.
“I have to force myself to eat dinner,” Bartoletta said. “Trying to eat dinner at 10 p.m. is hard. … I ended up having a chicken caesar salad. It was all I could handle.”
Both athletes will continue to train hard in preparation for the U.S. championships in Sacramento one month from now.
They’ll have to prepare with focus, because it could make a hundredth of a second difference. In Sacramento, that’s the difference between making World Championships or staying home.
