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The pictures above show Usain cruising to victory in the final of the
mens 100m at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Bolt recorded a
sensational new World Record time of 9.69secs in winning the final,
despite easing up in the closing metres, and won comfortably from his
nearest challenger, Trinidad's Richard Thompson (lane 5), who crossed
the line in a time of 9.89secs. The USA's Walter Dix (lane 6) won the
bronze medal in a time of 9.91secs.
He later commented: "My one
aim was just to be a champion. That is what I came here to do. I told
you I was going to be number one and I did just that. I got a great
start. I was getting good starts all the way up to the final. I was
getting better and better. It was crazy - phenomenal."
With his
victory Bolt became the first Jamaican men's 100m Olympic champion and
he insisted his celebrations before the race had finished were not
meant to be disrespectful. "I wasn't bragging" he said. "When I thought I
had the field covered I was celebrating. I was happy."
When
asked about the new world record, Bolt added: "I didn't know I'd broken
it until my victory lap. When I ran the earlier round I felt the world
record was possible because it's a new track, it's fast. But I came out
here just to win. I am just happy I did the country proud. I am
Jamaica's first gold medallist, and I know the whole of Jamaica is going
crazy."
This victory was just the start of a truly phenomenal
Olympic Games for the 21 year old as he would later strike gold in both
the 200m and 4x100m, details of which can be seen on the next page.
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