Lightning strikes a third time
Sprinter keeps troubled Games on fast track; IOC’s Rogge doesn’t get it
BEIJING -- Before the race, when the sprinters from Trinidad & Tobago were telling Usain Bolt that he was going to "drop the stick, and we are going to run past you," it was not bad sportsmanship.
Not in this sport.
Not in this sport.
"It was talking smack," T&T's Marc Burns said about Bolt and the Jamaicans, "to get in their heads and throw them off."
"It was talking smack," T&T's Marc Burns said about Bolt and the Jamaicans, "to get in their heads and throw them off."
Bolt knew that. He didn't care. And then he and company won the gold in the 4X100 relay, and broke a world record. For Bolt, that's three golds, three world records at the Beijing Olympics. All three times, he danced and posed afterward. And before. And during. On Friday, he went to his taunters from T&T, who had won silver, bumped chests and told them congratulations on a great race.
And this is the guy, the moment, the fun that International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge chose to hold up as the problem. The problem? Bolt has been the solution, the savior of these Games, post-Michael Phelps.
This week could have been about China sending two 80ish women with canes to prison for re-education, as the New York Times reported, for applying for a permit to protest. It could have been about the sham investigation that Rogge ordered into the Chinese gymnast scandal. The Chinese government, it's pretty clear, forged passports, cheating to get young girls past age limitations and onto the gold medal stand.
It could have been about the collapse of U.S. track, or maybe worst of all: TVs clicking off around the world.
Instead, it is about Bolt, Lightning Bolt, dancing, running, winning, laughing.
"That's not the way we perceive being a champion," Rogge said. "I have no problem with him doing a show. I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish. . .
"I understand joy. He might have interpreted that in another way, but the way it was perceived was `Catch me if you can.' You don't do that. But he'll learn. He's still a young man."
Yes, it was catch-me-if-you-can. That's the accepted culture of sprinting. And yes, Bolt is young. And yes, Rogge is looking awfully old and out of touch.
So I was talking to Burns after the race, when Bolt walked past.
"Drinks on me," he said.
And Bolt violates the Olympic spirit? Wasn't that just fun and togetherness between two athletes from different countries?
Conceited, cocky, showboating. All true. But they all work for Bolt, for sprinters. It's part of their DNA. They're playing a game with each other.
"I'm a performer," Bolt said. "I won't change. I'll just be myself because that's my personality."
Take that, Jacques. This goes down as Lightning Bolt vs. Olympic Dolt.
There is not need to describe Friday's race. The Jamaicans won by a mile and basically it went like all of Bolt's races:
Zoom.
With superstar Asafa Powell on Bolt's team, the Jamaicans ran in 37.10 seconds, demolishing the Americans' record of 37.40 in the Barcelona Games of 1992.
Bolt has set the record in the 100 meters, not flying through the finish but rather slowing down to run sideways, mug for the cameras and raise hands. The fastest man on earth set the world record in the 200 meters, too.
How is he doing this? How can you not wonder about steroids? But can't we enjoy this for even a few minutes first?
In fact, Bolt has given us the new breakfast of champions, noting after each race that he had loaded up beforehand on Chicken McNuggets.
What did he eat this time?
"I had some salad today," he said.
Powell interrupted: "All of us had McDonald's."
"Yeah," Bolt confessed, "All of us had McDonald's."
For now, that can be the substance that boosts him. Bolt has been a thrill and an adrenaline rush just to watch. At 6-foot-5, he's taller than other sprinters, and looks slightly awkward at first. Then, that huge body, smooth and intimidating just takes off, flying around the track.
"Jamaica did well in these Olympics," he said. "We practically took over."
Yes, Jamaica is the new king of sprinting, while the U.S. has lost control. The U.S. is still winning track medals, but not many golds, and not in the marquee sprints.
In the 4X100, the U.S. didn't have a team. It had dropped the baton in a prelim race.
I wonder what Tyson Gay is thinking? He was going to be the big star, but lack of workouts, and residual doubts about his leg following a hamstring injury killed him in the 100 prelims.
At least was can still beat the Jamaican bobsledders.
Meanwhile, a U.S. public has turned from track and field. We can't trust it with all those steroid cheats. Did you see that Marion Jones was moved from her federal prison in Fort Worth to San Antonio this week?
And then came Bolt.
Someone asked him about Rogge's comments on his sportsmanship, and then Powell jumped in: "When the U.S. was doing it years ago, no one was saying anything."
Wrong. In 1990, the Americans, including star Maurice Greene, were preening around the track in celebration, using the flag as their prop. They were ripped for it.
Theirs seemed uglier than Bolt's somehow. Maybe he's being forgiven for providing sudden joy and life. But just after Bolt beat T&T, Burns said he disgreed with Rogge about Bolt:
"He's never been disrespectful toward me in any way."
Rogge might want to keep his eye on exploited Chinese girls, even if it means smearing these Games and ticking off sponsors. A 30-second "investigation" doesn't count. We'll watch Bolt.
Lightning has struck three times.