Take Your Marks...

9.69 seconds. That’s now the benchmark time for the men’s 100m.

It was an inhuman effort; the likes of which have never been seen before. Late last night – Beijing time – Usain Bolt (which you have to say is an apt name), of Jamaica, cruised to the 100m Olympic Gold a full two-tenths ahead of the second-placed finisher. Now, if you aren’t a follower of sports like sprints in Athletics, or maybe even Cycling, Swimming and qualifying sessions in Formula 1, then that margin might sound microscopic. When mentioned in this context, the distance is gargantuan, and rendered a worldwide audience speechless.

Jamaica has had a proud, long-standing sprinting tradition, yet surprisingly, given the strength in depth of the national squad – another two Jamaicans qualified for the final, one of whom was the world record holder just before Bolt – this incident culminated in the first ever Olympic gold medal for Jamaica in that event. The fact that this was also Jamaica’s first medal of any colour at the Beijing Games made the victory all the more emphatic. I haven’t even spoken about the exceptional 1-2-3 finish in the women’s 100m today made possible by representatives of the tiny island in the Caribbean possibly most famous for reggae and Rastafarianism.

Expectation over the outcome of this race had been building ever since Athens 2004, in all honesty. Asafa Powell, the Jamaican who has now twice finished in 5^th place, in the Olympic final, was billed as the early favourite to take the throne, following Justin Gatlin’s dishonourable removal from the sport. You see, Gatlin won in Athens, yet was then exposed to have been a drug cheat; not the first time track & field athletes have tarnished the good name of Athletics by cheating to be the best. After Gatlin slunk away from the public eye, no-one was expected to challenge Powell for a good while. He broke the joint world record of his and Gatlin’s to boot. He was dominant in all senses of the word.

That is until Tyson Gay dared to rival him.

Gay was already an established 200m runner, but chose to switch down to the shortest distance in the hope of being more competitive. The gamble paid off; the tussle between Gay and Powell was titanic: one week, Powell could power his way through the field, leaving Gay in his wake; the next, Gay was unstoppable, eclipsing any efforts Powell could muster.

And so it remained that way pending the arrival of a young fellow named Usain Bolt, trying his hand at 100m racing.

Once again, Bolt was an athlete primarily in the mould of a 200m runner. He, however, did not defect entirely to the 100m, and it’s still the case that he considers 200m to be his stronger event – frightening given his margin of victory yesterday. With very little experience over half the length of his preferred choice, he broke Powell’s record of 9.74 seconds in what was only his fifth ever senior-level race. From there, his rise has been meteoric; some say he’s invincible. Who can blame them when you stop to think that Bolt slowed 20m from the finishing line in Beijing, and had no assistance from a tailwind?

This achievement was a little more touching to me. With half of my family originating from the said country, I could partially revel in the glory. Suffice to say, I am whole-heartedly British, and will always be British; nonetheless, there will too be a space reserved in my heart to bask in the accomplishments of Jamaica (and to worry about the troubles) whenever they arise.

The story of Usain Bolt is a warm one that Athletics has badly needed, given the scrutiny over the past few years. A man whose goals are to win and keep on winning, he is not tied down to his thirst for success. Not an arrogant fibre resides in his body. He relishes in any sort of competition. And he shows great passion in doing what he does best. He even has time to play to his adoring fans.

The “Lightning Bolt”; not a soul could have been worthier of the thunderous applause he collected in the wake of his jubilation.