US Olympic Track & Field Team: Power Ranking Usain Bolt's Biggest Threats

The sprinting competition in London has been incredible thus far.

There’s no debate who the fastest man in the world is now that Jamaica’s Usain Bolt has won the 100-meter dash for the second-straight Olympics.

Sunday night’s performance was one for the ages, but there is still unfinished business for Bolt. The 200 prelims begin on Tuesday, and once again Bolt will be the heavy favorite.

He won the event in Beijing with a world record time of 19.30 seconds, but the field is better than ever and another poor start may come back to haunt him this time around.

With so many other talented sprinters dying for the opportunity to topple the best in the world at the sport's grandest stage, here are the five competitors with the greatest shot of knocking off Bolt and taking home a gold medal in the 200.

5. Christian Malcolm, Great Britain

The Welsh native is certainly a long shot, but he has shown stark improvement in the last few years despite being one of the oldest sprinters in the competition.

The 33-year-old narrowly missed the finals at the 200 in Beijing, and has improved his time in the last four years.

While the home country favorite would need a performance of a lifetime, his experience in the event gives him a real shot of pulling the upset. 

4. Wallace Spearmon Jr., U.S.A

Spearmon focused all of his attention on the 200, and finished third in the event at Beijing. His personal best is 19.65 seconds, which is the seventh fastest time ever.

Spearmon is a dark horse because he’s been on this stage before and has been training for this moment his entire life. His father Wallace Spearmon Sr. won a bronze medal at the 200 in the 1987 Pan American Games.

There is no question he’ll need his best performance of all time to steal a win, but he has the makeup to do it. 

3. Christophe Lemaitre, France

Lemaitre decided to skip out on the 100 to focus all of his attention on one race.

The Frenchman is currently ranked fourth in the world in the 200-meter, and registered a time of 19.91 seconds earlier this summer in the Diamond League meet at Crystal Palace (via The Dailymail).

At the age of 22 he may be short on experience, but there is no doubt he’s a rising star in this event.

2. Churandy Martina, Netherlands

Martina finished a disappointing sixth in the 100 finals, but the 200 is the real race to watch for the Dutchman.

He ran a 19.94 at the New York Grand Prix earlier in 2012, and has the pure speed required to win this race.

The big issue will be with his footwork. He originally landed silver in the 2008 Olympics, but was later disqualified for a lane violation.

It’s a mental hurdle no doubt, and it will be interesting to see if it will impact the 28-year-old this time around.

1. Yohan Blake, Jamaica

The sprinter with the best shot of knocking off Bolt is the man who has trained with the reigning champ.

The Jamaican pair has been pushing each other hard and nobody is more familiar with Bolt and his blazing speed than Blake. After Bolt won the 100 on Sunday, he went out of his way to credit Blake for pushing him to the next level (via The Australian). 

Blake equaled his best performance ever in the 100 in landing a silver medal-winning time of 9.75, and enters this event as the favorite to land the big upset once again.

The 22-year-old ran a 19.26 second 200 at the 2011 Diamond League meet in Zurich, which is the second fastest time ever.

He has really improved in this event in the last year and if Bolt gets off to a slow start, Blake is the hands-down favorite to take advantage and deny his good friend from reaching the next level of Olympic greatness. 

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