by Larry EderUsain Bolt, the three time gold medalist from the Beijing Games and one of the most colorful athletes in our sport, returned to Jamaica on Monday, September 8, after a long season….
According to the website, Inside the Games (http://http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=3483), a large crowd greeted the three time gold medalist and world record holder upon his return to Jamaica.
For Usain Bolt, his world record binge started on May 31, in New York City, when he blew the field away, including Tyson Gay, with a world record 9.72 for the 100 meters.
In Beijing, Bolt won the 100 meters going away, again breaking the world record in 9.69 meters, then won the 200 meters, ” Running my heart out,” with a new world record of 19.30, eclipsing the twelve year old record of one Michael Johnson, who was watching from the stadium. On the Friday, August 22, Usain added a third gold medal by blasting the third leg of the 4 x 100 meters, giving Asafa Powell a huge lead to work with and the Jamaicans took the gold in the 4 x 100 meters, also setting a world record of 37.10.
The Olympics has been a huge publicity boost to Bolt, Jamaica and his sponsor PUMA. After the Olympics, his racing around Europe was well publicized and he continued his undefeated racing, finishing with a close call in Brussels to teammate Asafa Powell, who lead through seventy five meters in the cold, rainy night until Usain let it go and ran 9.77 to 9.82 for the win.
Bolt has to be tired, but ecstatic over his superb season. Not bad for a guy, who a year ago, was not known for his training focus. What a difference a year can make and an athlete’s decision not to get passed again in a 200 meter race, which was the reason Bolt has given for focusing this year. In Osaka in 2007, when Tyson Gay passed Bolt on the final stretch of the two hundred meters, Bolt afterwards asked his coach for a plan to not let that happen again. His coach, Glenn Mills, could not have done a better job.
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