When Usain Bolt crossed the finish line in first place and with a new Olympic record to boast, I could only think, shout and tweet one thing:
FUCKING LEGENDARY
— Jason Henry (@alchemisjah) August 5, 2012
I didn’t watch the 100m final in 2008. My fellow Jamaicans find that awfully strange, but to me the result was never in doubt. My mother called me time and time again to watch, but I wouldn’t budge. I knew Bolt was going to win and have a world record time. I watched the final this year because I doubted him.
He has been second best to Yohan Blake for the past couple months, he broke up with his girlfriend to focus on his athletics, crashed his car and seemed a bit nervous in qualifying. This is somewhat symptomatic of someone unraveling. His triumph however, makes him legendary and even more so because of the controversy that surrounded him so close to the Olympics.
The world may have become acquainted with Bolt from about 4 years ago, but Jamaicans have known about this guy for over a decade. We’ve seen his promise, his growth, even his mischievousness. What a level-headed and focused Usain Bolt does however, is dominate, and in style. His affinity for the world stage and his signature “To Di World” pose puts him among the elite athletes in any sport, in any era. In the coming weeks, you may be seeing him on billboards and TV ’til you can’t stand him! If you live in Jamaica like I do, you learn to live with it. It’s fairly easy.
I’m slowly forgetting Michael—what’s his name? You know, that guy who swims and has all those medals and people were calling him washed up? Yeah, that guy. But, just like in Beijing, Bolt steals the show.
While it is a subplot to the story of the day, a big congratulations to the return of Justin Gatlin must be given. To perform as well as he did without any competition for the past four years is a great achievement.
Many people wonder why Jamaicans run so fast. Is it the diet? Do they run before they can even crawl? Is their athletics programme just that better than any other nation? Short answers: no, pending and no. Usain Bolt and his fellow Jamaican team-mates run that fast because they train well, just like the Americans. Usain is something special though. To successfully defend your Olympic gold with a new Olympic record and to admit that you didn’t have the best of starts, is remarkable; a characteristic of a legend. Bolt is all confidence and no bravado. This guy could crash his car into my house and I’d still rate him!
On the eve of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence from England, to win gold and silver in the London Olympic Games will be a treasured memory. And for Bolt, specifically, lightning does strike twice.
#Bolting is the new#planking – For serious, this will probably go down in the office all day tomorrow: twitter.com/BigRyanPark/st…— Ryan Park (@BigRyanPark) August 6, 2012
Read more 2012 Olympics coverage in Sports.