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Bolt dashes into Olympics history
RIO DE JANEIRO: The Olympics is going to miss the Lightning Bolt pose that has lit up the last three Games at a time when athletics desperately needs a hero.
RIO DE JANEIRO: The Olympics is going to miss the Lightning Bolt pose that has lit up the last three Games at a time when athletics desperately needs a hero.
When Usain Bolt crosses the finish line and starts pounding his chest, it resonates with the public around the world. After his 100m triumph in Rio on Sunday, there are just two more chances for Olympic fans to take it in, the 200m and relay finale.
From his first 100m Olympic gold in Beijing, when the Jamaican astonished the world with his 9.69sec time, Usain St Leo Bolt, has been the real star.
On top of his seven gold medals and counting, Bolt, who will be 30 on Sunday, is confident, relaxed and supremely connected with the crowds he attracts wherever he goes. His mother seems to think that the young Bolt was born to run.
Born in Trelawny parish near Montego Bay — where a host of sprinters including the shamed Ben Johnson also come from — Bolt was something special from the start, according to Jennifer Bolt.
“After three weeks he was pushing because he was so strong,” the mother said ahead of Sunday’s triumph. “One day, I left him on the bed and when I came back he was close to falling off, so from here I was saying, ‘What kind of child he is?” she recalled.
By the age of 12, Bolt was the fastest in his school. “He was always on top,” she said.
Athletics bosses must wish he could stay longer. Bolt has said he will hang up his spikes after next year’s world championships in London. With each major win he has deflected attention away from bad news for track and field.
Rivals have been tainted and fallen by the wayside.
Bolt though has maintained his common touch with the crowds through all this.
