Usain Bolt Decimates the World Record
by Tim Furious
In the world of Olympic sports, Michael Phelps has been the one dominating headlines for the last year. However, sprinting will always be the heavy hitter for me in the Olympics. Usain Bolt is putting together one of the most impressive resumes in track and field history after running faster than any human being ever has.
Usain Bolt held the record at 9.72 seconds for the 100m, a standard he set at the Reebok Grand Prix in May 2008. The 2009 Track and Field Championships were being watched largely because of American Tyson Gay’s loud yapper. Gay said it would take a world record to win the 100m event, and he was right. It’s just that it wasn’t him shattering Bolt’s record.
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Instead, the man simply known as “Lightning” came off the blocks and left little doubt that he would crush Gay and his country mate, Asafa Powell. What we didn’t think was that he was going to obliterate his own world record. When the timer stopped counting when Bolt stormed across the finish line, it red “9.58”. It was official: somebody has broken the 9.6 barrier that nobody thought possible. Bolt improved his previous record by over one-tenth of a second, making it the largest margin between world records since electronic timing was introduced.
Phelps may have to contend with questionable swim wear, but unless they start strapping rocket jets to Gay’s ass, nobody’s going to catch Usain Bolt. Track and field is often one of the “lost sports” to the attention span of the world. If Bolt continues to shatter records in the 100m, 200m, continue his ascension in the 400m and contribute to world record setting relay teams for Jamaica, then we are seeing a legend in the making.
When Bolt runs, the world will be watching “Lightning” strike over and over again.
