Step aside Michael Johnson. As of late, you are the thunder that follows the lightning. Lightning Bolt that is.
On Wednesday night in Beijing, Jamaican runner Usain Bolt ran the 200 meter race in 19.30 seconds, besting Michael Johnson’s record of 19.32 seconds set at the 1996 Games held in Atlanta.
For the first time since the 2008 Games began, we have seen Bolt exert his full efforts. In races held previous to the 200 meter, audiences worldwide have seen the arrogant runner merely jogging through the finish line.
Bolt concluded his victory with a hip-swiveling dance, then raised his hands and pointed toward the scoreboard. Bolt’s world record in the 200 was added to the 9.69 he ran in the 100 four nights before.
He broke the world record in the 100 as well, while sauntering the final 20 meters. Clearly he could have done better in the 100 had he run hard the whole way, but the 200 has always been Bolt’s favorite.
He is the first man to win the 100-200 double at the Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984. Nobody other than Michael Johnson has ever run a 200 in under 19.6. Nobody has ever broken 9.7 in the 100. Bolt has done both, and he is the only man ever to break the world record in both sprints in the same Olympics.
“I’ve been dreaming of this since I was yea high,” Bolt says.
Usain Bolt. A life’s work established. A dream gratified. A Jamaican hero celebrated.
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