Athletics has no charismatic figure

What a shame we have a bunch of bores especially in the sprints! Worst era ever!!!

I wouldnt say that at all, Usain Bolt has masses of charisma in the sprints, and there are many others within the sport. Would you really call Phillips Idowu a bore?

KeizoYamata wrote:What a shame we have a bunch of bores especially in the sprints! Worst era ever!!!

How can Bolt be anymore charismatic!

Maybe he should run around naked.

As long as they can do their job, why would they need to be particularly charismatic?

Bolt is brilliant for the sport. Do you think the 100metres final was over subscribed 50 times over because of british involvement?

He has been on prime time TV and is a better speaker and showman than footballs main media man Beckham.

ian_jamsie wrote:Bolt is brilliant for the sport. Do you think the 100metres final was over subscribed 50 times over because of british involvement?

He has been on prime time TV and is a better speaker and showman than footballs main media man Beckham.

Pls the 100m final is always over subscribed. Bolt is too naff. No star appeal like Carl Lewis or Ben Johnson. They did not have to showboat like the annoying Bolt does.

emancipator wrote:

KeizoYamata wrote:What a shame we have a bunch of bores especially in the sprints! Worst era ever!!!

How can Bolt be anymore charismatic!

Maybe he should run around naked.

Give him the chance he would do it for the camera

While I definitely think that the Lewis/Johnson rivalry propelled the men's 100m into the huge event it has been since those days. (It was a very prestigious event before but didn't overshadow the rest of the athletics programme like it does now). I cannot agree that Bolt has no star appeal. His level of worldwide fame cannot be solely down to his performances. Also for me a Jamaican will always be "cooler" than a Yank!

Usian Bolt is possibly the greatest character in sport today. The big difference between him and Lewis and Johnson is he runs clean.

How can you bemoan the lack of a charismatic figure in athletics and then follow that up by calling the sports brightest draw a showboat?

Wumming at it's worst.

FreekShow wrote:Usian Bolt is possibly the greatest character in sport today. The big difference between him and Lewis and Johnson is he runs clean.

How can you bemoan the lack of a charismatic figure in athletics and then follow that up by calling the sports brightest draw a showboat?

Wumming at it's worst.

Greatest character in sport?

Pls explain? You think behaving like an wrestler about to enter a ring is character? Sorry, for those of us who have followed great sportsmen, it takes a lot more than ridiculous teenage show boating. It about what you say, your presence, class e.t.c Usian has none of this!

God! If people say he has the greatest character, it would explain why anyone can be famous. Look at how reality TV stars are so big now. all show pretence in front of the camera no substance.

trickstat wrote:While I definitely think that the Lewis/Johnson rivalry propelled the men's 100m into the huge event it has been since those days. (It was a very prestigious event before but didn't overshadow the rest of the athletics programme like it does now). I cannot agree that Bolt has no star appeal. His level of worldwide fame cannot be solely down to his performances. Also for me a Jamaican will always be "cooler" than a Yank!

It did not overshadow the rest of the events because like I said we had other great characters.

Take for instance In the 80's you had people like Daley Thompson, I dont even know who is the decathlon Champion now

We had great track stars like Edwin Moses, Seb Coe, Sergey Bubka,Jan Zelezny, Florence Griffith-Joyner e.t c. The 90's was even better! Now name 2 stars? It's awful watching these bores! Track and field is dead!! No wonder the last World Athletics was a disasters - the lowest figures in history with hlaf filled stadiums. Compare the crowd and talent of this years Championship in to that to that of Japan 1991. Tokyo was a complete class apart and better in every sense. I dont even watch the 100m anymore - dont miss it.

davidl1061 wrote:I wouldnt say that at all, Usain Bolt has masses of charisma in the sprints, and there are many others within the sport. Would you really call Phillips Idowu a bore?

A man who has to dye his hair to get a personality interesting? Is this a trick question? When Jonathan Edwards is about to jump you at least get an anticipation of something special. Idowu is like Andy Murray! ZZZZZZZZZZ

KeizoYamata wrote:

FreekShow wrote:Usian Bolt is possibly the greatest character in sport today. The big difference between him and Lewis and Johnson is he runs clean.

How can you bemoan the lack of a charismatic figure in athletics and then follow that up by calling the sports brightest draw a showboat?

Wumming at it's worst.

Greatest character in sport?

Pls explain? You think behaving like an wrestler about to enter a ring is character? Sorry, for those of us who have followed great sportsmen, it takes a lot more than ridiculous teenage show boating. It about what you say, your presence, class e.t.c Usian has none of this!

God! If people say he has the greatest character, it would explain why anyone can be famous. Look at how reality TV stars are so big now. all show pretence in front of the camera no substance.

What more than multiple world records and gold medals does it take then? You mentioned Seb Coe in an earlier post. You are surely not claiming that our Sebastian was a more charismatic figure than Usain Bolt or any other athlete past or present for that matter?

No substance? Read the above on that one. And no presence? Have you been drinking alcohol through a straw?

Your argument is flawed. It's not the sport of athletics fault that you don't know who the decathlon world champion is, it's your obvious ignorance and nothing else. I grew up watching alot of Rugby League but barely watch the game now. Should I go onto the Rugby League boards and bemoan the lack of quality because my mind is still stuck in the Wigan era of the 80's and 90's?

Bolt is already a two time S.P.O.T.Y overseas winner so I'd say there are plenty of people in this country that would laugh back at you but there you go!

KeizoYamata wrote:

trickstat wrote:While I definitely think that the Lewis/Johnson rivalry propelled the men's 100m into the huge event it has been since those days. (It was a very prestigious event before but didn't overshadow the rest of the athletics programme like it does now). I cannot agree that Bolt has no star appeal. His level of worldwide fame cannot be solely down to his performances. Also for me a Jamaican will always be "cooler" than a Yank!

It did not overshadow the rest of the events because like I said we had other great characters.

Take for instance In the 80's you had people like Daley Thompson, I dont even know who is the decathlon Champion now

We had great track stars like Edwin Moses, Seb Coe, Sergey Bubka,Jan Zelezny, Florence Griffith-Joyner e.t c. The 90's was even better! Now name 2 stars? It's awful watching these bores!

The 90s came after the Lewis/Johnson era as did at least 50% of the top level careers of Bubka & Zelezny. Despite the greatness of the likes of these two non 100m runners, that event did tend to overshadow the others at major championships in the eyes of the general public. I would agree that the sport perhaps could do with some more athletes outside the sprints who resonate to some degree with the general sporting public.

FreekShow wrote:

KeizoYamata wrote:

FreekShow wrote:Usian Bolt is possibly the greatest character in sport today. The big difference between him and Lewis and Johnson is he runs clean.

How can you bemoan the lack of a charismatic figure in athletics and then follow that up by calling the sports brightest draw a showboat?

Wumming at it's worst.

Greatest character in sport?

Pls explain? You think behaving like an wrestler about to enter a ring is character? Sorry, for those of us who have followed great sportsmen, it takes a lot more than ridiculous teenage show boating. It about what you say, your presence, class e.t.c Usian has none of this!

God! If people say he has the greatest character, it would explain why anyone can be famous. Look at how reality TV stars are so big now. all show pretence in front of the camera no substance.

What more than multiple world records and gold medals does it take then? You mentioned Seb Coe in an earlier post. You are surely not claiming that our Sebastian was a more charismatic figure than Usain Bolt or any other athlete past or present for that matter?

No substance? Read the above on that one. And no presence? Have you been drinking alcohol through a straw?

Your argument is flawed. It's not the sport of athletics fault that you don't know who the decathlon world champion is, it's your obvious ignorance and nothing else. I grew up watching alot of Rugby League but barely watch the game now. Should I go onto the Rugby League boards and bemoan the lack of quality because my mind is still stuck in the Wigan era of the 80's and 90's?

Bolt is already a two time S.P.O.T.Y overseas winner so I'd say there are plenty of people in this country that would laugh back at you but there you go!

Yes Usain has no presence, his only saving grace is that he pertakes in main event for track and field. When I see UB I see someone who tries to come across as cool infront of the camera but it just does not work.

Take for instance, those who follow boxing would understand this example.

Ali was outpsoken and a show man and he had presence.

Tyson was not so outspoken but he too had presence


And then we have David Haye, a man who tries hard in front of the camera to be something he is not but comes across as forced and false.


Carl Lewis = Ali
Ben Johnson = Tyson
Usain Bolt = David Haye

So despite the fact that Bolt has no presence, he still manages to practically single handedly fill athletics stadiums around the world? You know better than all these fans?

I'm not a huge fan of the man, but it takes someone quite 'special' to actually (and completely humourlessly) say that the man has no presence.

In another post you said that Jonathan Edwards had this 'presence' that you talk about. The guy was a completely vanilla character, but the excitement came about with his jumping (as you said). So if nothing else, surely if Bolt is uninspiring with his personality, surely he falls into this category with respect to his performances? You need to probably think about your angle of wumming, and perhaps try again later.

And as a boxing fan, I'm not too sure I like Ali being compared to the king of the Santa Monica Braces Club.

Good posts by Freekshow and DJ.

To the OP,

You seem to be stuck in a time warp.

What exactly constitutes charisma in your opinion?

Bolt is probably the most talked about athlete since Lewis. He has clearly captured the public imagination DUE TO HIS OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES.

Surely this is what matters rather than some arbitrary and subjective concept - charisma.

Your idea of charisma is also contrary. You ridicule Idowu and yet praise Flo-Jo - yes she of the painted nails and outrageous costumes (not to mention dubious records).

You say Bolt has no charisma and yet hail Edwards and Coe who were as vanilla and establishment as one could get.

You say Bubka had great charisma. In what way exactly? I was amazed by Bubka but not because of some arbitrary sense of charisma but rather because of his astounding performances. Perhaps you speak Ukranian.

ky

surely a wum?

i'm no particular fan of UB but without doubt he is a fantastic sprinter and one of the very few truly exciting track and field performers

KeizoYamata wrote:

ian_jamsie wrote:Bolt is brilliant for the sport. Do you think the 100metres final was over subscribed 50 times over because of british involvement?

He has been on prime time TV and is a better speaker and showman than footballs main media man Beckham.

Pls the 100m final is always over subscribed. Bolt is too naff. No star appeal like Carl Lewis or Ben Johnson. They did not have to showboat like the annoying Bolt does.

Bolt has been invited on big prime time shows all over the world. He is far bigger than the 2 you mentioned.

Just ignore him, he's deliberately provocative and simply out to be a pest.

Bolt is certainly a lot more charismatic than Keizo's idol: Tiger Woods.
In the history of sport I don't think there has been a more wooden and dreary character.

This guy knows very little about any sport, and only rates people who are American, no one else matters to him. So please ignore him. He'll get bored and return to his bedroom where the poster of Woods on his ceiling will keep him occupied for another 5 seconds.