The Hardest Part is Getting to the Starting Line

The 100-meter dash is the signature track and field event of the Olympics with the 100-meter world record holder earning the mythical title of the “World’s Fastest Human.” The current 100-meter world-record is 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt on August 16, 2009 in Berlin Germany. The retired Jamaican, considered the greatest sprinter of all-time, holds the world record in both the 100 and 200 meters, winning each event in three consecutive Olympics. It is an incredible accomplishment

In America, track and field is relegated to a niche sport, receiving scant attention unless it’s the every-four-year Olympic cycle. The majority of American sports fans see sprinters like Bolt for that brief ten-seconds of glory every four-years and then turn their attention back to the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.

What the public sees is Usain Bolt’s athletic dominance over ten second sprint. What they don’t see is the hard work world class athletes like Bolt put in to remain elite. In a competition where fractions of a second can determine the winner, it’s the work the training the athletes put in on a daily basis, outside of the competition, that sets them apart.

The hardest part is getting to the starting line.

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