Usain Bolt, Lance Armstrong and the Duck Test

AUGUST 2019 UPDATE — since I wrote this article over three years ago, it’s been read and discussed a lot, which is fantastic. There now seems to be more scrutiny around Bolt (also great) but with the benefit of hindsight there are a few things in here that I’ve updated. Mostly to be more rigorous with the data available, but the main update is a section about Bolt’s physique and him being a genetic ‘freak’ (the number one response as a defense of Bolt’s ludicrously fast track times). Updated sections are clearly marked.

“When people ask me about Bolt, I say he could be the greatest athlete of all time. But for someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don’t question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you’re a fool. Period.” Carl Lewis

Usain Bolt; the fastest person ever timed. 11 times world champion, 9 time gold medalist at the Olympics (the Treble Treble); the first ever man to hold both the 100m and 200m world records.

Oh and he also holds the world record for the 4x100 (thanks team).

So then, not just a champion, the greatest champion in the three events he competes in the world has ever seen. That last sentence bears dwelling on — Usain Bolt has not only beaten his fellow world class athletes, he has set seemingly game-changing records in the course of becoming the best.

And yet, despite the number of fellow competitors that have received various different bans for illegal doping, Usain…