Editing Bob Costas (section)

===Fastest man in the world===
On August 1, 1996, the night of [[Michael Johnson (athlete)|Michael Johnson]]'s 200 m Olympic win, Costas stated on-air during [[Olympics on NBC|Olympics coverage]] of the [[1996 Olympics]] that Johnson's gold-medal performance in the 200 m (19.32 seconds) was faster than [[Donovan Bailey]]'s 100 m performance (9.84 seconds) five days earlier in that 19.32 divided by two is 9.66.<ref name="SI-jun-1997">{{cite news| first=Tim | last=Layden | url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1997/06/09/pulling-a-fast-one-the-long-awaited-match-race-between-michael-johnson-and-donovan-bailey-turned-into-a-travesty-further-wounding-an-ailing-sport | agency=[[Sports Illustrated]] | title=Pulling A Fast One | date=9 June 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/whos-the-worlds-fastest-runner/ |title=Who's the World's Fastest Runner? |publisher=Freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com |date=2008-08-25 |accessdate=2012-04-11}}</ref> Bailey later dismissed Costas' comments as "a person who knew nothing about track talking about it with a lot of people listening"; nonetheless, the sportscaster's remarks touched a nerve. <ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |last=Giddens |first=David |date=2017-08-10 |title=Meet me in the middle: The weird Donovan Bailey vs. Michael Johnson 150m race |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/bailey-johnson-150-match-race |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=[[CBC.ca]]}}</ref>

The unofficial "world's fastest man" title typically goes to the [[100 metres at the Olympics|Olympic 100 metre champion]].<ref name="auto1" />
The 200 metre time almost always yields a "faster" average speed than a 100-metre race time, since the initial slow speed at the start is spread out over the longer distance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/06/fastest-man-in-world.html |title=Who is the fastest man in the world? |publisher=Sportsscientists.com |date=2008-06-26 |accessdate=2012-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523165116/http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/06/fastest-man-in-world.html |archive-date=2012-05-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In other words, the second 100 metres is run with a "flying start", without the slow acceleration phase of the first 100 metres and without the greater than 0.10 s reaction time of the start.<ref name="SI-jun-1997"/> In fact, each 200 metre gold medalist from 1968, when fully electronic timing was introduced, to 1996 had a "faster" average speed at the Olympics, save one, yet there had been no controversy over the title of "world's fastest man" previously, until Bob Costas' remarks during the 1996 Olympics.<ref name="SI-jun-1997"/> 

Amid continuous verbal sparring between the pair of athletes, this led to an unsanctioned [[Bailey–Johnson 150-metre race|150-metre race]] between Bailey and Johnson in Toronto.<ref name="auto1" />