Usain Bolt from Jamaica broke the 100m and 200m world record at the Olympics in Beijing 2008 and it inspired me to write about his accomplishments in his life and in 2008. I wrote this article for WorkingOutNow.com and you can find it at:
Usain Bolt New World Record Holder The world is on their knees as they praise the new sports sensation that is Usain Bolt. Usain “Lightning” Bolt as fans around the world like to call him, has been a long time participant in Track and Field and a force to be reckoned with on the track over the 200m.
Usain Bolt born August 21, 1986, hails from Trelawny, Jamaica. As a child Bolt became interested in sports through Cricket but his coaches would soon see his potential to run very fast and would urge him to focus on Track and Field instead of Cricket. Bolt made a name for him self in his last years in High School while he attended William Knibb Memorial High School in Trelawny, Jamaica. In 2001, Bolt earned him self 200m and 400m silver at Jamaica’s Boys High School Championships at the National Stadium and the nation’s eyes have not come off of him since.
Bolt made his first real impact on the world stage at the 2002 World Junior Championships, winning gold in the 200 metre and an additional two silver medals as part of Jamaica’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. Bolt made history in 2002 becoming the youngest gold medalist in the history of the competition. In 2002, Bolt won both the 200 metre and 400 metre events in the Jamaica High School Championships, CARIFTA Games, and Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships. He set championship records for both 200 metre and 400 metre in the 2002 CARIFTA games with 21.12 seconds and 47.33 seconds respectively. Bolt had record breaking performances in the World Youth Championships in 2003, he also set a new championship record in the 200 metres with 20.40 seconds. In his final Jamaican High School Championships in 2003, he finished the 200 metres in 20.25 seconds, beating the previous record by a margin of 0.57 seconds. In the 400 metres, he crossed the line in 45.30 seconds to beat the old record of 46.17 seconds.
Usain Bolt became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 metres in under 20 seconds when he set the World Junior Record in 2004 at 19.93 seconds. Bolt was plagued by injury for most of the 2004 and 2005 track and field seasons, which also saw a lack luster performance in the Olympics in Athens in 2004 when he didn’t make it out of the qualifying rounds. 2006 would mark the year when Usain returned to form with a personal best at the time of 19.88 seconds over the 200m. Bolt continued to train and improve on his time in the 2007 season setting a new national record for Jamaica with a time of 19.75 seconds. Bolt also won silver at the 2007 Osaka World Championships, second to Tyson Gay.
2008 would be the beginning of a new era in Track and Field, the Bolt era. Usain Bolt had a record breaking season in 2008. It started when Bolt ran the 100m in 9.76 seconds at the beginning of May in Kingston, Jamaica. Bolt gained massive attention from this run because this was only the 4th time the sprinter had run the 100m competitively on the senior level. Many criticized Jamaica for not having the proper technology to be able to properly record times for races. Many said it was not possible for Bolt to have run that time without any real competition.
Usain Bolt 100m 9.76 seconds in Kingston, Jamaica (Video On WorkingOutNow.com)
All eyes were on Bolt on May 31st when he ran away from Tyson Gay on American soil and became the first man to break the 100m world record on American soil since Donovan Bailey at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Bolt broke his fellow compatriot Asafa Powell’s world record of 9.74 seconds and set a new world record of 9.72 seconds over the 100m.
Usain Bolt 100m 9.72 seconds (World Record Run) (Video On WorkingOutNow.com)
Bolt continued to train for the 200 metre as this was his favourite event and he was considering doubling at the Olympics in Beijing. Bolt went on to set a new national record and personal best for himself in the 200 metre by running 19.67 in Athens, Greece weeks before the Olympics also becoming the 5th fastest time ever recorded in history. Bolt was sending a message to his competitors that he is still a great force over the 200 metres aswell.
Usain Bolt New National 200m Record 19.67 seconds (Video On WorkingOutNow.com)
Bolt announced that he would double-up with the 100 metre and 200 metre events at the Beijing Summer Olympics, and the new 100 metre world-record holder was surely the favorite to win both. Bolt qualified for the 100 metre final with 9.92 and 9.85 seconds in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively. In the Olympic 100m final, Bolt took his world record of 9.72 seconds and made it a thing of the past when he won the event in 9.69 seconds. Bolt set a new world record and Olympic record without the aid of any wind (+0.0 m/s) and left the world questioning whether he could go even faster because he chose to celebrate before even finishing the race by beating his chest before he crossed the finish line. Many looked at Bolt’s “showboating” as unsportsmanlike and believed that he could possibly have run under 9.6 if he had run straight through the tape. Bolt denied that the purpose of his mid-race celebration was to showboat; he is quoted as saying “I wasn’t bragging. When I saw that I wasn’t covered, I was just happy.”
Usain Bolt 100m Gold in Beijing and New 100m World Record 9.69 seconds (Video On WorkingOutNow.com)
Bolt then turned his focus to the 200 metre and attaining the gold and being the first person to attain gold in both the 100 metre and 200 metre since Carl Lewis in 1984. Michael Johnson who set the 200 metre record at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta gave Bolt his blessings as he believed Bolt would win the gold for the 200 metres but didn’t believe that his 200 metre record would be broken. Usain Bolt jogged through with ease for his first and second rounds of the 200 mteres. He won his semifinal and remained the favourite to win the event. In the final Bolt won another gold medal, setting a new world and Olympic record of 19.30 seconds in the 200 metres. Bolt did this despite running into a headwind of 0.9 m/s. This made him the first sprinter since Don Quarrie to hold both 100 and 200 metres world records simultaneously and the first since the introduction of electronic timing, and also the first sprinter to break both world records at the same Olympics.
Usain Bolt 200m Gold in Beijing and New 200m World Record 19.30 seconds (Video On WorkingOutNow.com)
Usain Bolt is now being studied by various countries around the world as they try to figure out the science behind the phenomenon that is Usain Bolt.
I have personally been watching bolt run from 2002 and I have believed in him ever since. They can study every inch of Usain Bolt to figure out why he is as talented as he really is and the truth is that the secret is in the land of his birthplace, Jamaica. Jamaica is a small place so full of god blessed talent and Usain Bolt is a product of that. No man before Usain Bolt has ever broken both the 100m and 200m world record in the same Olympics, he has stamped his name in history in 2008 and this is just another step forward, I dont believe Usain Bolt is done yet. The 100m and the 200m aren't the only records Usain has the ability to claim for himself. With the progress and the amazing accomplishments Usain has been having with the 100m and 200m, he attributes to his 400m workout sprints in practice and Usain has the physique and the stride to be a great 400m runner and Bolt has run fairly fast 400m times in his past. As a Jamaican I can say this, we are all proud of you and we are waiting for you to take the 400m record aswell and be the first man on earth to own the 100m, 200m and 400m world record. Keep doing your best Usain and even greater things are in store for you in the future.
-Alexander Day
Proud to be a Jamaican
