And so finally we have an answer. Still electrifying, still like a man from another planet. But now we know how fast the man can really go.
Usain Bolt laid waste last night to the world record he set exactly one year ago at the Beijing Olympics. The history of the world 100 metres record shows that the mark has been whittled down over the years in incremental improvements, but in the Olympic Stadium last night, it was annihilated by the Jamaican.
From the 9.69sec of last year, Bolt reduced it to 9.58. And the rest of the field? They contributed to one of the fastest 100 metres races of all time, but did not really come close. The much-hyped duel with Tyson Gay? Yes, Gay ran a personal best, a time of 9.71, which leaves him standing alone as the second-fastest man of all time. Very good work indeed, Mr Gay. But Bolt has redefined elite sprinting and no one else has cracked the code.
In the brief moments of quiet before the race, the camera settled on Bolt and he mouthed the words: “The game is on.” But it was soon over. Gay’s only hope was to take a lead from the start, but Bolt was level with him after ten metres and ahead of the field thereafter.
function slideshowPopUp
return false;
Related Links
Gay confident of beating Bolt
Chambers just happy to appear in the final
‘Forget Bolt, I’m still the No 1’ insists Powell
Multimedia
Watch Bolt's 9.58s run here
Your first question: did he sprint all-out to the line? Apart from a glance to his right to check that Gay was beaten and then another to the left to look at the clock, yes he did. So deduct one hundredth of a second if you are being harsh. But this, nevertheless, was his ultimate feat of speed.
“I came out here to do my best and I did what I had to do,” he said. “I was feeling good after the semis. I knew it was going to be a great race and I executed it. It’s a great time, a great feeling.”
Really. We have been waiting a year to hear how it felt. It was a year to the day that Bolt wrote the prologue: won the Olympics, shocked the world, merrily slapped his chest and his thigh in the process and simultaneously asked the big question. How fast can he go when he is really trying?
Glen Mills, Bolt’s coach, said that his Beijing final without the circus act would have been 9.54sec. Various other analysts, sports scientists and students of speed have chimed in with other opinions. And as the “what if” became a self-perpetuating debate, Bolt himself added further veneer to his sheen of cool by declaring that, actually, he was not that bothered.
“I am in this game for medals, titles,” that was his view. Those who have watched and waited for last night have espoused a different approach.
Watching Bolt when he destroys other sprinters like this brings to mind Carl Lewis in 1991. In what is loosely referred to as “the greatest 100 metres ever”, Lewis’s late display of speed won him the gold and the world record and the following observation from his team-mate, Leroy Burrell, who would take that record from him: “He passed us like we were standing still.”
We have come to expect this from Bolt, but although it may no longer come as a surprise when he gives his adversaries this unfortunate appearance of being involved in a different kind of game, it is still a phenomenal spectacle. As Asafa Powell, who finished third in 9.84, said: “Even after the finish I couldn’t catch him.”
And, of course, it was one thing to do it in one blinding year in 2008, but his badge of greatness has been the repeat performance. Such as Lewis, if you like, or Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, any of those with untouchably iconic status.
We sent Bolt away from Beijing with fame and fortune hard on heels and we wondered how significantly they would catch up with him. Yet his achievement is that no matter how much money or women or pressure are thrown at him, he has come back laughing and jiving and not remotely changed. Just 0.11sec faster. Some have labelled him the saviour of his sport. And Bolt? Concerned? You need only have seen the look on his face yesterday when he false-started in his semi-final.
Worried? Buckling under pressure? Not quite. He appeared to find his aberration totally hilarious. He then strolled to a semi-final victory, starting to pull on the brakes from the 60metre mark, yet recording a time of 9.89sec. Just to clarify how good that is, the fastest Briton of all time was Linford Christie in 9.87. Bolt nearly beat that without having to push himself.
Television pictures of the evening further emphasised how much fun all this was. If you wind back the years of sprinting through Maurice Greene, Christie and back to Lewis, you find generations of testosterone-charged prima donnas locked in inexorable battles of male dominance. But when the cameras pan on to Bolt, he is slouching around, laughing. Have we ever seen an athlete so visibly enjoying the execution of his art?
Bolt loves the camera. Yesterday, before the final, he repeated with his hand a gesture as if he was a plane taking off. In fact, Bolt took off one year ago and he has no problem with altitude. This man flies closer and closer to the sun; last night we saw his talent at its absolute height.
Result - 100 metres final1 Usain Bolt (Jam) 9.58secs (WR)2 Tyson Gay (USA) 9.713 Asafa Powell (JAM) 9.844 Daniel Bailey (ANT) 9.935 Richard Thompson (TRI) 9.936 Dwain Chambers (Gbr) 10.007 Marc Burns (Tri) 10.008 Darvis Patton (USA) 10.34.
Usain Bolt laid waste last night to the world record he set exactly one year ago at the Beijing Olympics. The history of the world 100 metres record shows that the mark has been whittled down over the years in incremental improvements, but in the Olympic Stadium last night, it was annihilated by the Jamaican.
From the 9.69sec of last year, Bolt reduced it to 9.58. And the rest of the field? They contributed to one of the fastest 100 metres races of all time, but did not really come close. The much-hyped duel with Tyson Gay? Yes, Gay ran a personal best, a time of 9.71, which leaves him standing alone as the second-fastest man of all time. Very good work indeed, Mr Gay. But Bolt has redefined elite sprinting and no one else has cracked the code.
In the brief moments of quiet before the race, the camera settled on Bolt and he mouthed the words: “The game is on.” But it was soon over. Gay’s only hope was to take a lead from the start, but Bolt was level with him after ten metres and ahead of the field thereafter.
function slideshowPopUp
return false;
Related Links
Gay confident of beating Bolt
Chambers just happy to appear in the final
‘Forget Bolt, I’m still the No 1’ insists Powell
Multimedia
Watch Bolt's 9.58s run here
Your first question: did he sprint all-out to the line? Apart from a glance to his right to check that Gay was beaten and then another to the left to look at the clock, yes he did. So deduct one hundredth of a second if you are being harsh. But this, nevertheless, was his ultimate feat of speed.
“I came out here to do my best and I did what I had to do,” he said. “I was feeling good after the semis. I knew it was going to be a great race and I executed it. It’s a great time, a great feeling.”
Really. We have been waiting a year to hear how it felt. It was a year to the day that Bolt wrote the prologue: won the Olympics, shocked the world, merrily slapped his chest and his thigh in the process and simultaneously asked the big question. How fast can he go when he is really trying?
Glen Mills, Bolt’s coach, said that his Beijing final without the circus act would have been 9.54sec. Various other analysts, sports scientists and students of speed have chimed in with other opinions. And as the “what if” became a self-perpetuating debate, Bolt himself added further veneer to his sheen of cool by declaring that, actually, he was not that bothered.
“I am in this game for medals, titles,” that was his view. Those who have watched and waited for last night have espoused a different approach.
Watching Bolt when he destroys other sprinters like this brings to mind Carl Lewis in 1991. In what is loosely referred to as “the greatest 100 metres ever”, Lewis’s late display of speed won him the gold and the world record and the following observation from his team-mate, Leroy Burrell, who would take that record from him: “He passed us like we were standing still.”
We have come to expect this from Bolt, but although it may no longer come as a surprise when he gives his adversaries this unfortunate appearance of being involved in a different kind of game, it is still a phenomenal spectacle. As Asafa Powell, who finished third in 9.84, said: “Even after the finish I couldn’t catch him.”
And, of course, it was one thing to do it in one blinding year in 2008, but his badge of greatness has been the repeat performance. Such as Lewis, if you like, or Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, any of those with untouchably iconic status.
We sent Bolt away from Beijing with fame and fortune hard on heels and we wondered how significantly they would catch up with him. Yet his achievement is that no matter how much money or women or pressure are thrown at him, he has come back laughing and jiving and not remotely changed. Just 0.11sec faster. Some have labelled him the saviour of his sport. And Bolt? Concerned? You need only have seen the look on his face yesterday when he false-started in his semi-final.
Worried? Buckling under pressure? Not quite. He appeared to find his aberration totally hilarious. He then strolled to a semi-final victory, starting to pull on the brakes from the 60metre mark, yet recording a time of 9.89sec. Just to clarify how good that is, the fastest Briton of all time was Linford Christie in 9.87. Bolt nearly beat that without having to push himself.
Television pictures of the evening further emphasised how much fun all this was. If you wind back the years of sprinting through Maurice Greene, Christie and back to Lewis, you find generations of testosterone-charged prima donnas locked in inexorable battles of male dominance. But when the cameras pan on to Bolt, he is slouching around, laughing. Have we ever seen an athlete so visibly enjoying the execution of his art?
Bolt loves the camera. Yesterday, before the final, he repeated with his hand a gesture as if he was a plane taking off. In fact, Bolt took off one year ago and he has no problem with altitude. This man flies closer and closer to the sun; last night we saw his talent at its absolute height.
Result - 100 metres final1 Usain Bolt (Jam) 9.58secs (WR)2 Tyson Gay (USA) 9.713 Asafa Powell (JAM) 9.844 Daniel Bailey (ANT) 9.935 Richard Thompson (TRI) 9.936 Dwain Chambers (Gbr) 10.007 Marc Burns (Tri) 10.008 Darvis Patton (USA) 10.34.
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