An Electrifying Performance

BEIJING Seven strides from the finish of the 100 meters on Saturday, with a fifth of the race to run, Usain (Lightning) Bolt knew he had blown the universe of sprinting to smithereens, that a new world record was his and that he had a choice to make.

The 6-foot-5 Jamaican giant could pump his arms and drive to the finish to establish a time so much lower than his own world record of 9.72 that every "Fastest Man on Earth" from the past would gasp. Or he could invent the most amazing oh-my-Lord-nobody's- even-done-that-before conclusion to a 100-meter performance in the annals of the Olympic Games.

Bolt chose joy, picked soul over stats. The 21-year-old sucked the juice out of his moment right down to its rind and electrified 91,000 in the Bird's Nest with a show of bravado, a mid-sprint celebration, like none seen before.

Ever.

With more than 20 meters to go and his lead so huge it was incomprehensible in an Olympic dash final, Bolt dropped his arms to his sides and ran like a child pretending he had wings. We've seen that run on every playground -- school's out at last or the spring breeze is exhilarating or you just won the game and speed doesn't matter, only pleasure in the instant.

Despite violating every principal of sprinting, Bolt still gained ground on the field and turned to the crowd to watch it watching him. Meters from the finish, he actually was twisted sideways as he flew. And just before he crossed the finish line, he pounded his chest with his fist.

The number 9.69 flashed on the scoreboard -- a new world record by .03 of a second despite an eternity of (glorious) showboating. And everybody went insane for Usain.

Every person who has ever run -- not run track, just run -- will now ask, "How fast could he have run?" No one knows. All can guess, including Bolt. How beautiful.

"I wasn't worried about the world record. I didn't know I set it until I finished my victory lap. Just to be Olympic champion, I was happy," said Bolt, whose stunning victory surely will be made a bookend in Olympic lore with Michael Phelps's victory by a hundredth of a second just 12 hours earlier on Saturday morning.

"I haven't seen the replay," said Bolt, when nagged to guess what he might have run had he not chosen to do something more spontaneous, memorable and genuine. "People are saying 9.60. But I can't comment on that."

Now, everyone here will hold their breath to see what Bolt will do in the 200-meter dash, in which his best is 19.67; many think the day will come -- next week? -- when he breaks Michael Johnson's world mark of 19.32.

"I'm not really worried about world records," Bolt said. "I have a lot more time for that. I just want to win."