'I Blew the World's Mind'

By Thomas Boswell
Thursday, August 21, 2008

BEIJING

This one was for the clock, for the record book, for Olympic history and to stand these Games on their head. This victory in the 200-meter dash on Wednesday was to put the name Usain Bolt smack into the Michael Phelps conversation.

This was the night when a 21-year-old became the first man to break the world record in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the same Olympics. Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis never pulled it off. But this Jamaican homebody just did.

"I blew my mind, and I blew the world's mind," Bolt said, beaming and laughing as he watched a replay of himself breaking a mark thought unassailable, even after his 100-meter record Saturday. "My name is Lightning Bolt."

Indeed, he had run the 200 in 19.30 seconds, beating Michael Johnson's 12-year-old mark of 19.32.

"The prime minister told me, 'Everybody is in the streets,' " Bolt said. "I've written history. I'm just real proud."

When tempted to think too hard about Bolt, just remember his age. He turned 22 on Thursday, shortly after his record-setting run. He's a young 22, as well. He grew up running barefoot on grass tracks. His aunt burns down her sugar cane fields, machete in hand, ready to chop them up. When he leaves his island for meets, he still gets homesick.

Perhaps such extroversion goes hand in hand with some innocence. Let's take it. We don't get much of it anymore. And it never lasts long. Right now, Bolt is more relaxed, more at ease with his goofy, dancing, nickname-making self -- at least in public -- than self-protective Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan have been.

At his news conference, Bolt noticed a big television replay of himself striking his throw-a-lightning-bolt pose before he ran, mugging to the crowd, listening to his tunes, dancing to himself.

"I'm thinking, 'I look cool,' " said the son of a tiny-town grocery store owner and a dressmaker.

There, for Bolt to admire, was his own streaking image, devouring yards while other men ran in mere feet. Now he knew just what he had looked like two hours before to millions of stupefied viewers who had fantasized that he might break one of sport's more remote records, but never seriously expected that this 6-foot-5 kid could do it.

"That guy's fast," Bolt said, breaking up. Is he fully aware that no other sprinter has looked remotely like him, with gigantic strides and ridiculous hang time between each pace?

Then, turning sincere, which Bolt endearingly still can do in an instant, he said: "I'm looking forward to going to bed, waking up and realizing I'm a double gold medalist. . . . It's a great feeling. I'm just really happy. . . . I've been dreaming [of breaking the 200-meter record] since I was yea-high."

And he truly did look happy, like few of us ever can, even when we have reasons.

"To tell you the truth, I just want to chill out. I feel like being in sandals and taking a weekend, go to the quarry," Bolt said. "But I have to refocus again for the [4x100] relay."

So we will get to see him one more time in this Olympics and appreciate one of the greatest athletes who ever has lived, even though few outside the track world even knew him a week ago. Nine men have won both the 100 and 200 meters in the same Olympics, but none until Bolt smashed both world records, much less did it in such devastating style -- beating his personal best by (gulp) .37 of a second and topping the next-best time of (disqualified) Churandy Martina by .82 of second, or almost seven meters.

On top of that, Bolt ran a 9.69 in the 100 while holding his hands at his side for the last seven strides, looking at the crowd watching him and smacking his hand to his chest before he crossed the finish line.

The world of track is numb with the thought of what Bolt may do.

"He's five to seven years from his prime. If he stays healthy, focused and motivated, we're going to see some of the most incredible things we've ever seen in sports," said legendary hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah, who worked with Johnson when he set his world marks in the 400 and, until now, the 200. "Bolt's upside is untapped."

In theory, could he run the 400 meters, too? In victory, Bolt brought that subject up himself, adding "not soon."

"I could see him running the 800 meters in six, seven years," Nehemiah said, shaking his head. "Fame is very fleeting if you believe your own print. Tomorrow isn't promised to athletes. But what we saw tonight, it was like Usain said, 'Let me see what I can do here if I really try.' "

Like many in track, Nehemiah "felt personally saddened" that Bolt threw away the chance to run 9.60 or 9.62 in the 100 meters, just for the sake of showmanship. "But this time, he showed us what he could do," Nehemiah said.

Perhaps it's actually better this way. Now Bolt has shown us both his boyish, goofy personality and his talent.

"I've been saying all season that [the record in] the 200 means a lot more to me than the 100. I already had that record," Bolt said. "I knew I could go this fast. I told myself, 'If I'm going to get the world record, I'm going to get it here because this track is fast.' "

To this point, you might find Bolt vain or in danger of getting there fairly soon. But there also is a deep streak of modesty and respect in him. Every fuddy-duddy on NBC has criticized him for his antics in the 100-meter race, but Bolt took no shots back at them. Even three hours before this race, Johnson said that Bolt's 100 was "the most impressive athletic feat I've ever seen in my lifetime. Nothing he does is going to shock me at this point. . . . I think he could have run a 9.62 if he had run through the finish and tied up his shoes.

"But in order to run 19.32, he's going to have to run the curve a lot better, and he's going to have to hold his speed for a very, very long time."

In this did Bolt see disrespect? Far from it. He gave respect.

"A lot of people compare me to Michael Johnson," he said. "I don't compare myself a lot. I'm just trying to be me. He revolutionized the sport. I just changed it a little bit."

And he won't take the Phelps bait, either.

"I won't compare myself to Michael Phelps," he said. "He is a great athlete. I'm on the ground. He's in the water."

That takes care of the whole planet. They're the best.