Other Sport
Bolt shatters 100m world record
2009-08-16 22:05
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Berlin - Usain Bolt crossed the finish line,
saw his record-setting time on the clock and spread his arms as if he
were soaring like a bird.
About all this guy can't do is fly.
And by saving his celebration until after the finish line this time, he
showed how fast a man really can go on two feet.
Gallery: Usain Bolt - Record Breaker
The Jamaican
shattered the world record again on Sunday, running 100 meters in 9.58
seconds at the world championships to turn his much-anticipated race
against Tyson Gay into a one-man show.
That was 0.11 seconds
faster than the mark he set last year at the Beijing Olympics - the
biggest improvement in the 100-meter record since electronic timing
began in 1968.
Gay, his closest rival, broke the American mark
with his 9.71 performance and still looked like he was jogging - finishing a few big strides behind Bolt in second place.
Bolt's only competition these days is the clock.
And when he's really trying, not hot-dogging it over the line the way he did in China, even time itself doesn't stand a chance.
"I don't run for world records," said Bolt, who crossed the line with a slight breeze at his back.
Yet those records always seem to find him.
He thinks he can go even lower.
"I know I said 9.4," Bolt said, grinning. "You never know. I'll just keep on working."
Last
year in Beijing, Bolt shut his race down early, waving his arms and
celebrating about 10 meters before he got to the line. Some, like
president Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee, viewed
it as a sign of bad sportsmanship. Most saw it as a welcome sign of
relief for a sport that needed some good news after years of doping and
scandal.
Even this week, the Jamaican track team was making
headlines for the wrong reasons - a complicated doping case. Then a
group of athletes who were uninvited to the worlds by the country's
track officials because they didn't participate in team training camp
got reinvited at the request of international officials.
Bolt
made everyone forget about that and showed, once again, what a great
sport track can be when the focus is on the track, not doping control
and the meeting rooms.
Bolt ran his latest unforgettable race
at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the history-filled home of the 1936
Olympics where Jesse Owens became the world's biggest track star. Bolt
lives in Owens' stratosphere now, having set the 100 world record three
times and also owning the 200-meter record thanks to the 19.30 he ran
in Beijing to break Michael Johnson's 12-year-old mark.
Now he has added the world championship, last won by Gay in 2007, to his Olympic title.
A
Stanford professor estimated he could've gone 9.55 if he'd run full out
through the line in Beijing. Bolt almost made that guy look like a
genius.
"He's like a created game person," American runner
Darvis Patton said. "I can't imagine going 9.71 and not winning. That
will win every race in history except for today (and at the Olympics)."
It's easy to see why Bolt is such a crowd favourite. He's a
colourful character who loves to entertain. The track is his stage and
he didn't disappoint on Sunday.
Before climbing into the blocks, Bolt gave spectators a quick wave and did his trademark bow-and-arrow pose.
That drew big applause.
Then the real show started.
Unlike
the Olympics, when he skidded from the blocks, Bolt burst out this time
in his yam-coloured Pumas, opening a sizable lead on the field after 20
meters.
From there, it could have been a stroll in the park.
But there was no letting up this time. Before crossing the line, he
glanced to his right to check on Gay once - not in the picture - and
then back at the clock. His face lit up as he spotted the digits "9.58"
appear on the screen next to the track.
The party was on. He grabbed a flag and did a victory lap with countryman Asafa Powell, who finished with the bronze (9.84).
They
even stopped midway down the track and did a little dance number. Too
bad the song wasn't from rapper Akon, who wrote about the sprinter in a
song, the lyric going, "Quicker than Usain Bolt, the fastest thing
runnin'."
Next came pictures - lots of flashes popping - and
hugs as Bolt greeted everyone who called his name - and they were
numerous. The entire victory lap took about 20 minutes.
Or about 19:50.42 longer than it took to run his 100m.