In a lightning Bolt, track is back
As I wrote previously in a column back in early July, the emergence of Usain Bolt would be the much-needed spark that would bring the sport of Track back to life.
On Saturday night in Beijing, that was just what happened.
Bolt annihilated the field, his competition if you can call them that, with a world-record and INSANE time of 9.69 seconds even with a very poor start (7th out of 8 in the field) and slowing up in the last 30 meters when it was clear he had the race won.
Wearing the golden yellow jersey of his home country Jamiaca and the matching flashy spikes, Bolt has resurrected a sport that since the beginning of this century has been residing in the dark shadows of illegitimacy.
Track can be a sport supported and loved with great fanfare. As horse racing has shown us with its great tradition and history, humans love the spectacle of a great race just as they do a great fight like boxing and now MMA has come to show us. And the 100 meter dash is the Kentucky Derby of human racing, its glamour event. With the title of being the world's fastest man being perhaps the most prestigious title in the entire world.
Bolt has brought that back. It certainly won't hurt that the kid is just 21, has only been racing the 100m for 13 months and ultimately just scratching the surface of his full potential. He has a vibrant personality to go with the vibrant colors of his homeland and that could be -- next to his talent -- the key factor in keeping track here to stay.
One thing is for certain, no one save for Bolt will be touching that 9.69 for a very long time.