Lightning ‘Bolt’ Strikes Twice, Wins Gold in 200M
09 Aug, 2012
LONDON — Here is the measure of Usain Bolt’s brilliance. He eased up because he felt tightness in his back as he rounded the corner in the men’s 200 meters Thursday at Olympic Stadium and, in his words, “cruised” to the finish line, a winner nonetheless in 19.32 seconds.
That time, 19.32, is the Michael Johnson gold-shoes race from Atlanta in 1996. When we all thought that was untouchable.
That was before Bolt came along. He has re-defined everything.
Bolt, so far ahead at the line that he could not only slow over the last 20 meters but put his left index finger to his lips to tell any and all critics to hush, won the 200 to fulfill the mission he had set out for himself here in London, to become a “legend.”
As soon as he crossed the line, he did five push-ups, one for each of his Olympic medals. The 4×100 relay is coming up this weekend, and the opportunity for a sixth.
He said afterward, “I’m now a legend. I’m also the greatest athlete to live.”
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, speaking to a small group of reporters, said, according to Associated Press, “Let [Bolt] participate in three, four Games, and he can be a legend. Already he’s an icon.”
Let the parsing of words — and the talk-show radio debates — begin.
He does not, of course, own 22 medals, as does Michael Phelps.
Bolt is now the only man with two Olympic titles on the track in the 200.
Bolt won the 100 here Sunday in an Olympic-record 9.63 seconds. The victory Thursday means he has swept the 100 and 200 in both Beijing and London. In Beijing, of course, he set world records in both events.
Bolt is still only 25 years old. He has won seven of the last major individual sprint titles in the 100 and 200 at the Olympics and the worlds; he didn’t win the 100 at the 2011 worlds in Daegu, South Korea, because he was disqualified for a false start. Blake won that one.
Here Thursday, Bolt led a 1-2-3 Jamaican sweep of the 200 — and not only a Jamaican sweep but, to be precise, a sweep by three guys from the same training club, the Racers Track Club. Yohan Blake took second in a season-best 19.44, Warren Weir third in a personal-best 19.84.
“It’s OK I’m second,” Blake, the 100 silver medalist, said. “It’s my first Olympics.”
Weir, who was little known except to track geeks before these Games, said, “A lot can change in one night and a lot change in 19 seconds.”
American Wallace Spearmon Jr. finished fourth, in 19.90. He said of the Jamaicans, “Those guys are on another planet right now. Congratulations.”
South Africa’s Anaso Jobodwana, who finished eighth in the race, in 20.69, said of Bolt and Blake, “Those two run like ghosts. They disappear in front of you.”
Coming into these London Olympics, there were doubts about whether Bolt was ready to run. He lost to Blake twice at the Jamaican Trials. He was nagged by injury.
Then came the 9.63 100, which put all that talk to an immediate stop.
The only question Thursday night, really, was whether the 200 would produce a world record. The weather was warm, calm, beautiful. And early in the night Kenya’s David Rudisha ripped off a world record in the 800, heightening anticipation for the 200.
When he was introduced, Bolt threw a new gimmick into his pre-race routine. He waved like he was the Queen of England.
As he settled into the blocks, he got serious.
The gun went off. He got off to his post-Daegu now-usual slow start — 0.180, second-slowest in the field — and then went out hard into the turn.
Of course he was thinking about the record. The problem, though, was that going around the corner his back began to strain.
He said: “I wanted to lift. I could feel the slight strain. I could feel the pressure in my back. I decided, you know what? I’m going to take it easy.”
Let that settle in.
Bolt took it easy in the Olympic final coming down the homestretch. He still ran 19.32, which used to be the world-record. And he won by more than a tenth of a second.
Assuming Usain Bolt is running clean — he has done nothing to suggest otherwise but in track and field this disclaimer is always prudent, and he insisted anew that the Jamaicans are “without a doubt” clean — what we all bore witness to Thursday night in London is an instant memory we will be sharing with our children and grandchildren.
Perhaps it is even the stuff of legend.
By: Alan Abrahamson, NBC Olympics
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