Usain Bolt gives Jamaica its first Olympic sprint champion
OLYMPIC TRACK & FIELD
The Caribbean makes its presence known in the 100 meter at the Games.
BEIJING -- Usain Bolt isn't among the many athletes who listen to music on headphones before they compete. His coach, Glen Mills, doesn't allow it, worrying it will interfere with Bolt's concentration.
But that didn't stop Bolt from doing a little dancing before he stepped into the blocks Saturday night, before the crowd of 91,000 as the Bird's Nest went quiet for the start of the men's 100 meters. He was moving to a music in his head that he said was nothing specific, undoubtedly just something that is in the lifeblood of athletes from the Caribbean.
Maybe he was hearing the reggae of his native Jamaica, which had three runners in Saturday's Olympic final, or the calypso that comes from Trinidad and Tobago, with two finalists, or the tumba and kaseko from the five islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles, which had its first finalist ever.
The gun fired and Bolt started moving straight down the track, and then, after 80 meters, he began grooving to the crowd. His movements became as much boogie as sprint, with arms spread wide, then right hand slapping his heart, a full-body celebration of footwork like none before in the history of running.
Bolt won the 100 meters in a time, 9.69 seconds, that broke his own 11-week-old world record of 9.72 and could have been so much faster.
His rivals still couldn't catch up. Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, who ran a personal-best 10.89, was farther from first than any Olympic medalist since 1984. Walter Dix of the United States was third in a personal-best 9.91.
Asafa Powell of Jamaica, the former world record holder, had two feet at the big dance again, finishing fifth. Reigning world champion Tyson Gay of the United States was eliminated in the semifinals, unable to make up for time lost to a hamstring injury six weeks ago.
Never before had six Caribbean sprinters made an Olympic 100 final. Never before had there been three Jamaicans or a Jamaican champion, even if émigrés Linford Christie won for Great Britain in 1992 and Donovan Bailey for Canada in 1996. Hasely Crawford of Trinidad and Tobago was the only previous Caribbean athlete to win the 100 title for his own country.
"When you go to Jamaica and you see how track and field is respected in the country, they should have the Olympic champion," said Ato Boldon, a four-time Olympic sprint medalist from Trinidad and Tobago. "They have given such gifts to the sprint world, whether it be to the United Kingdom, or whoever.
"For the Caribbean, this final says the things I used to dream of, I'm seeing in my lifetime."
