Saturday, August 16, 2008

It emanated from those loping, waist-high strides 6-foot-5 Usain Bolt churned with his golden spikes—untied lace and all—to win the 100-meter Olympic gold medal and break his own world record Saturday night.
It was there for all to see, too, in the “Is that really possible?!” gap of several feet between the Jamaican and the rest of the field at the finish. And, of course, in those bright, yellow numbers on the red-and-black trackside clock blaring the official time: 9.69 seconds.
Pure joy.
It radiated from Usain Bolt’s wide eyes as he playfully nudged an opponent during the prerace stroll through the stadium hallways, and, moments later, when he clowned with one of the volunteers at the start line before handing her his black backpack.
It was there for all to see, too, in his “How good am I?!” mugging for the cameras with about 20 meters to go, already certain victory was steps away— outstretched arms with palms up, slap to his chest while taking the last of his oh-so-long 41 strides, leaning back to enjoy the moment instead of leaning forward in effort. And in the arms-swaying dance moves he showed off as reggae music flowed from the loudspeakers to help him celebrate.