Champions are known not to do different things. They do things differently. And he did so with chutzpah that only the best in the world can bring about.
He is the first man on the planet to retain the 100 metres crown in the Olympics on the track. Yes, we know Carl Lewis was champion in LA (’84) and Seoul (’88) but on the second occasion only in the laboratory, as it were, when winner Ben Johnson was caught and brushed and tarred as a drug cheat.
The world knows Carl Lewis was no innocent either as he himself admitted to having failed US team drug tests more than once. The US track star also said so to the author who wrote a book on the dirtiest race in history, which defines the planet’s fastest man. In a world in which everyone is thought to be innocent unless the blood tests tell otherwise, Usain Bolt is a clean champion, thus far. And there is no doubting his second strike like a bolt of lightning in London.
And this was the race of races, with four of the fastest men in it, all black, of course, but, of that later. He did not start all that well since he could not afford to be disqualified again after the world championship experience. And he didn’t showboat at the end as he did in Beijing. He termed this run a ‘business’, a strange term to use. But then he also mixes business with pleasure as brought out by a report that he celebrated his gold medal with three pretty members of the Swedish women’s handball team in the Games village. Bolt says his business will take him to Rio too. Can’t wait to see what a gangling 6-foot five-incher nearing 30 can do there.
Bolt picked off Gatling, even as he surged to keep his club mate Yohan Blake at bay. It appeared then he could keep on running another 100 metres at that pace. This was not so much a win as a statement to put the doubters in the shade. You don’t write off champions just because they are injured or a challenger pops up. Shattering his own Olympic record was incidental to this theme of a champion strutting his stuff on the world’s biggest stage.
Striding out like a Frankel in regal, flowing steps, Bolt put enough between himself and sishya Blake and ensured there could be no bad luck stories of ifs and buts that may otherwise make sport such a joyful subject for a debate. His mid-race surge carried him past the opposition, his strides at the finish very much like those of Frankel, that British thoroughbred wonder. Time for the imaginary bow and arrow-in-the-sky routine again, with more of a flourish this time and a hearty thanks to Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt of Munich.
Three nervy Americans versus three fast and loose-limbed Jamaicans was the theme of the race.
The racial profile of the 100 metres could be the weighty subject of a genetic study. We have been there before and come away convinced that if distance running was the forte of the East Africans, the 100 metres is the preserve of the Afro-Caribbeans. People said #(pounds) 700 was worth every penny for a seat.
Who cares if Carl Lewis only praised Bolt hesitantly as if throwing plaudits at a man who was twice the fastest on the Olympic track, from east to west, from Beijing to London, could cost a man money. “It’s very rare to repeat success,” Lewis had said. “To win two Olympic 100m titles — nobody else has ever done it. You need longevity and consistency. I had an 18-year career. I think the 100m will be a little different to what people think.” Well, Bolt had all the answers.