In the past week, an overly used catch phrase has emerged—“they say lightning doesn’t strike twice.”
Four days after his record shattering performance in the 100 meters final at the World Championships, Usain Bolt won gold in the 200 meters, in equally brilliant fashion.
The anticipation at the start of the race was palpable. In Berlin’s packed Olympiastadion, 70,000 fans waited in anticipation of the performance expected to be delivered by the man who had, days earlier, shocked the world by lowering the 100 meters record by 0.11 second, which is the largest margin ever since the advent of electronic timing.
The Berlin fans weren’t to be disappointed. After one false start, the race was over half way through the turn. At that point, Bolt, in the fifth lane, was stunningly already ahead of the sprinters who were running in the lanes outside of his.
On the final straight-away, Bolt’s face showed a grimace as he pushed himself hard right to the finish line to break his own world record by 0.11 seconds.
Bolt’s finishing time of 19.19 seconds was enough to leave several meters between him and silver medalist Alonso Edward of Panama who finished in a time of 19.81 seconds.
After the race, Bolt’s competitors were also stunned by his performance.
American Shawn Crawford told AP, “He’s a gift to this earth. He’s a blessing to the track game. ... I’m just waiting for the lights to flash ‘Game Over’ ‘cause I felt like I was in a video game.”
The performance bred speculation that Bolt could one day run the 200 meters in under 19 seconds. Michael Johnson, who before Bolt came along, was considered the greatest 200 meters runner in history agreed.
“He could,’’ Johnson said. “He’s very tall and has an extremely long stride. He’s not the only person in the world that’s six-foot-five, he’s just the only one that’s 6–5 and that fast.’’
Bolt, 22, rose to his current stratospheric level relatively quickly. His first medal at a world championship was a silver garnered at the 2007 meet in Osaka. At those championships, Bolt did not even compete in the 100 meters competition.
However, by the time of the Olympics last year, Bolt had held the world record in the 100 meters, and was preparing to show the world, that his caliber of sprinting was in a level all its own.
With his left shoe untied and after slowing up in the final quarter of the race to celebrate, he still ran, what was at the time, the fastest 100 meters in history. Many experts who analyzed the race held that if he ran full out for the complete race, his time would have been below 9.60 seconds.
These calculations were verified at this week at the World Championships, where Bolt’s 100 meters final was run in 9.58 seconds.
His status as the dominant sprinter in the world was confirmed again in the Beijing Games, when he broke Michael Johnson’s record in the 200 meter race, a record that had stood for 12 years.
Four days after his record shattering performance in the 100 meters final at the World Championships, Usain Bolt won gold in the 200 meters, in equally brilliant fashion.
The anticipation at the start of the race was palpable. In Berlin’s packed Olympiastadion, 70,000 fans waited in anticipation of the performance expected to be delivered by the man who had, days earlier, shocked the world by lowering the 100 meters record by 0.11 second, which is the largest margin ever since the advent of electronic timing.
The Berlin fans weren’t to be disappointed. After one false start, the race was over half way through the turn. At that point, Bolt, in the fifth lane, was stunningly already ahead of the sprinters who were running in the lanes outside of his.
On the final straight-away, Bolt’s face showed a grimace as he pushed himself hard right to the finish line to break his own world record by 0.11 seconds.
Bolt’s finishing time of 19.19 seconds was enough to leave several meters between him and silver medalist Alonso Edward of Panama who finished in a time of 19.81 seconds.
After the race, Bolt’s competitors were also stunned by his performance.
American Shawn Crawford told AP, “He’s a gift to this earth. He’s a blessing to the track game. ... I’m just waiting for the lights to flash ‘Game Over’ ‘cause I felt like I was in a video game.”
The performance bred speculation that Bolt could one day run the 200 meters in under 19 seconds. Michael Johnson, who before Bolt came along, was considered the greatest 200 meters runner in history agreed.
“He could,’’ Johnson said. “He’s very tall and has an extremely long stride. He’s not the only person in the world that’s six-foot-five, he’s just the only one that’s 6–5 and that fast.’’
Bolt, 22, rose to his current stratospheric level relatively quickly. His first medal at a world championship was a silver garnered at the 2007 meet in Osaka. At those championships, Bolt did not even compete in the 100 meters competition.
However, by the time of the Olympics last year, Bolt had held the world record in the 100 meters, and was preparing to show the world, that his caliber of sprinting was in a level all its own.
With his left shoe untied and after slowing up in the final quarter of the race to celebrate, he still ran, what was at the time, the fastest 100 meters in history. Many experts who analyzed the race held that if he ran full out for the complete race, his time would have been below 9.60 seconds.
These calculations were verified at this week at the World Championships, where Bolt’s 100 meters final was run in 9.58 seconds.
His status as the dominant sprinter in the world was confirmed again in the Beijing Games, when he broke Michael Johnson’s record in the 200 meter race, a record that had stood for 12 years.
