The feverish acclaim for Usain Bolt’s third Olympic 100m title was still reverberating around the Estádio Olimpico João Havelange when the Jamaican announced a bold recalibration of his targets for Rio.
Not only did he want a historic “triple triple” of three successive 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles but – for good measure – the 200m world record and sporting immortality as well.
The first part of Bolt’s grand plan starts on Tuesday with the 200m heats. Four men have run quicker over the distance this year, with the American LaShawn Merritt leading the rankings at 19.74sec, a hundredth of a second faster than Justin Gatlin, the silver medallist in Sunday’s 100m.
But, as always, Bolt turns up as the prohibitive favourite. He has not lost a major 200m championship final since his victory at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and it would be the most stunning upset of these Games if that pattern were to change.
And long past the bewitching hour there was a twinkle in Bolt’s eye as he indulged those asking about his chances of breaking his 200m world record of 19.19, set in Berlin in 2009. “This is one of the biggest things,” he said, smiling. “I really want that record – and I think if I can get a good night’s rest after the semi-finals, it’s possible.”
On the bald form of Sunday night’s 100m final, such talk appears more foolhardy than bold. Bolt crossed the line in 9.81, his slowest championship winning time – a far cry from when he raced away from the field to set an Olympic record of 9.63 in London four years ago. Yet there were extenuating circumstances. Usually the gap between the semi-finals and final is at least two hours, allowing sprinters time to rest their bodies and minds. This time they were rushed out and back again in 80 minutes.
Something else is worth bearing in mind. Last week Bolt told friends that he felt he was in sub-9.7 shape for the 100m. If true, an assault on the 200m world record perhaps isn’t such a pipe dream, especially if the hot weather holds and ferments with the adrenaline of the crowd as it did on Sunday. The Jamaican knows from watching Wayde Van Niekerk shatter Michael Johnson’s two-decade old 400m record that the electric blue Mondo track in Rio deserves its reputation as the fastest of all time.
Before the start of the 100m final, each athlete was introduced one by one to a thudding techno beat. This was the biggest moment in most of their careers. Understandably, most were pensive. Not Bolt, who waved and smiled at his adoring fans. He would probably be relaxed in front of a firing squad. No doubt he would back himself to outrun their bullets. Gatlin, predictably, was booed – his reputation for failed drugs tests preceding him. Afterwards even Bolt admitted that he found the booing “shocking”.
The American heard the screeching catcalls and jeers, but tuned them out. “They don’t know me, they don’t know Justin,” he pleaded afterwards. “And I have the respect of my own competitors in the 100m. That’s all I really care about.”
Gatlin quickly sent the boos to the back of his mind. And for a few brief moments after the gun sounded, it appeared as if he might just have the run on the field. Even at 34 the American’s start remains a work of technical beauty: his body perfectly in tune with the starter’s pistol. As usual he was out of his blocks quickest and led by a metre at halfway. Bolt, by contrast, did not so much explode from the blocks as rise stiffly from them: like a man with a slipped disc getting upright after sleeping on a hard mattress.
But once he got into his stride it was over. From 60m to 70m Bolt caught up and then catapulted away. As he crossed the line he was slowing down, hand across his chest in salute: mission accomplished. Gatlin found himself in second again, in 9.89, while the Canadian Andre de Grasse took bronze in 9.91.
Bolt said: “It was very hard to run fast because the turnaround time was so short it was ridiculous. I felt so good in the semi-finals but by the time I got back to the warm up area I had to start warming up again. For me it was really stupid. That’s why the race was slow.”
Still, victory ensured he was back treading the familiar path of gold and Olympic glory – and thirsting for more of the same. “Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it,” he said. “I came here to prove myself as one of the greats, to set myself apart from everyone else, so I’m going to run with that one.”
Few would bet against him. Even now, despite all track and field’s scandals and suspicions, being the fastest man on the planet carries enormous bragging rights. And yet again Bolt has the swagger of a king.
Source: theguardian.com