Gavin Cooney
Staff Writer
Rarely can something that lasts just 9.63 seconds be celebrated so unanimously. The world stood still to watch Usain Bolt make history by smashing his own Olympic Record to become only the second man to retain the Men’s 100m title. Furthermore, Bolt became the first to know he had defended the title while standing on the podium; Carl Lewis retained his gold medal after the revelations of Ben Johnson’s doping shame. On Sunday, Bolt wasn’t just running for another Olympic Gold, he was sprinting for a golden legacy, his golden legacy. Bolt himself said that “people always say I’m a legend, but I’m not. Not until I’ve defended my Olympic titles. That’s when I’ve decided I’ll be a legend”.
Coming into the games, there were myriad doubts swirling about the Jamaican. The great man’s greatest weakness, his starting ability, was elucidated when falling victim to the false start rule at the World Championships in Daegu last year. Disqualified and desolate, he watched his compatriot and greatest rival Johan Blake take gold. Added to that, his failure to beat Blake at the Jamaican trials prior to London 2012 and rumours of a hamstring injury, Bolt was looking decidedly human. Nonetheless, this was a man who smashed the world record at Beijing upon a diet of chicken nuggets, with a shoelace untied. He ran faster than any man ran before, and he couldn’t have looked more comfortable doing so, short of pulling out a cigar whilst swirling a glass of brandy before crossing the line.
At 9.50pm on Sunday in the Olympic Stadium, whilst lining up on the blocks, Bolt felt the heavy hand of history upon him. Rather than holding him back however, it propelled him. Out of the blocks, down the track, across the line and into the pantheon. There was no showboating this year, as Bolt was tested to the limit by arguably the greatest athletics line up in Olympic history. Had Asafa Powell not fallen injured, all runners would have run sub-ten second times for the first time ever. (As an aside, Powell stumbled out of the blocks, pulled up with an injury and still managed to finish less than two seconds behind the fastest man on earth).
Through his race on Sunday night, Bolt has trademarked the “Fastest Man on Earth” brand. Bolt has defended the most precious medal in sport. Most importantly of all, Bolt has his legacy. And it took him only 9.63 seconds to seal it all.
