Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Thunder Bolt As Usain Roars To 200m Record

Usain Bolt once again left the field in his dust and also set a new World Record in winning the men's 200m final.

Bolt captured his second Gold Medal of the Olympic Games and in doing so also slashed .02 off Michael Johnson's record for this event set in Atlanta in 1996. The new mark is now 19.30.

Bolt leapt out of the blocks and after only a few of his gigantic paces, it was clear he was only racing against the clock, as the lightning fast track again proved to be a dream surface for his perfectly suited running technique.

Prior to the race, Bolt promised not to repeat his skylarking finish as he had in the 100m final where he slowed down when he knew he was home. And he was true to his word here, as there was no show-boating, no thumping of the chest, just an honest, teeth-gritted effort from maybe the finest sprinter ever.

As he rounded the bend in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium, Bolt charged down the straight and across the finish line, with no other runner in sight. He looked about 1,000 lengths clear by then !
The 21-year-old Jamaican has one last race to compete in for these Olympics and that is the mens 4X100m which is on Thursday. Based on what he's shown so far, he must be considered a good chance to add a third Gold to his haul by then.

Bolt celebrated this 200m victory in similar style to his 100m win. There were kisses tossed out to the adoring crowd, but once again the biggest smooch was saved for the track which has proved to be a perfect platform for him.

For those interested in the minor placings, which seem pointless when you consider how much this race was about Bolt and nobody else, American's Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix came in second and third. There was even a few protests and challenges for the minor placings which is like squabbling over yesterday's newspaper. The judges should have just asked them, 'does it really matter fellas ?'

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