By John Bagratuni Aug 16, 2008, 17:12 GMT
Beijing - Usain Bolt is not doing bad in the 100 metres he used to run as part of 200 metres training.
The tall sprinter known as 'Lightning' is even making history for his home country Jamaica after his coach Glen Mills decided only on August 2 that he could seek an Olympic double.
Bolt came into the season as a hot gold medal contender for the Olympic 200 metres race in Beijing. He is that even more now that he has won the 100m gold in world record time.
While Bolt claimed 'I didn't have a clue' how fast he was running, the other seven finalists had an excellent view of him once he pulled away after 30 metres.
They saw how he dropped his hands after 80m, looked left and right and clutched his fist on his chest upon crossing the line. Despite the final jog the clock stopped at 9.69 seconds as sprint history was made and Bolt shaved three hundredth of his own record from May 31.
Not that Bolt cared.
'I was not worried about the world record, I came here to be Olympic champion. This means a lot to my country and me. I made history for myself and Jamaica,' he told the post-race news conference while munching a banana and some power bars.
The others did care as assessments were made. The mixed zone personnel needed reinforcements to secure the barriers as TV crews and reporters swamped the new king of the sprint.
'I saw him him slowing down while I was still pumping to the finish line,' said Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago who finished a full two tenths behind Bolt for silver.
Seventh-placed compatriot Marc Burns reckoned that Bolt could have run 9.55. Bronze medallist Walter Dix of the US simpla said 'it's unbelievable' and then quipped, 'Is that a world record?'
Bolt is the first Jamaican to win the 100m in Olympic history and the first world record runner in an Olympic final since Canada's Donovan Bailey ran 9.84 in Atlanta 1996.
'We always rise to the occasion. This win puts us on top of the world,' said Jamaican Sports Minister Olivia Grange who was on hand for the big moment.
Bolt is the youngest Olympic sprint champion since Carl Lewis, who was also 21 when he won 1984 in Los Angeles. He also won with the same margin of 0.2 seconds.
'He is still very young. He has a long way to go. It is only a matter of time until he runs faster,' said Thompson.
And like Lewis, who was the last to do so 24 years ago, Bolt can now join an elite group of runners which also includes Jesse Owens with a sprint double by adding the 200m title in Beijing next week.
Bolt leads the 200m rankings with 19.67 seconds this season and was a world championship runner-up to American Tyson Gay last year at the world championships.
Bolt said he would have cherished a meeting with Gay who had already named the 100m 'one of the hottest in Olympic history' but then crashed out in the semis on his return from a hamstring injury.
'If you want to be the best you have to beat the best,' he said.
That also applied to Asafa Powell, the former world record holder (9.74) from Jamaica who chocked yet again to place.
Asked what he told Powell after the race, Bolt could not help himself and said 'I couldn't talk to him, I was 200m down the track.'
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