The Hindu : Sport : Usain Bolt may spoil Gay-Powell showdown

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Usain Bolt may spoil Gay-Powell showdown

K.P. Mohan

NEW FORCE: Usain Bolt would be keen on upstaging the big names in 100m at Beijing. — Photo: AP

When Usain Bolt ran a 9.76 in Kingston early May this year, his coach, Glen Mills said: “This is just the beginning.” How prophetic!

Twenty-eight days later, the 21-year-old Jamaican improved that timing with an astonishing 9.72 seconds for a new World record in New York. Bolt had arrived.

He left American Tyson Gay (9.85) far behind in New York, prompting a “hats off to Bolt” comment from the American champion. And Bolt did that again in Kingston last month, leaving Asafa Powell behind in the Jamaican Olympic trials, 9.85 to 9.97.

Top six timings

The Jamaicans now hold the top six timings in the 100 on the all-time chart, four by Powell including the previous world record of 9.74 and two by Bolt. Gay has since run the fastest under all conditions, a 9.68 in Eugene in the US Olympic trials helped by an aiding wind of 4.1m/s. Wind-speeds over 2m/s is not allowed for record purposes.

Is Bolt then the man to beat in Beijing?

Championships invariably shatter forecasts and pre-race build-ups. Powell should know; he has not won a big one yet. It was thought that he would meet Gay in an Olympic showdown reminiscent of the Ben Johnson-Carl Lewis duel in Seoul 20 years ago. Now, there is a third man.

Bolt, all of six feet, four inches, has not come out of the blue. Aged just 15, he won the 200m title in the World junior championship in front of home fans in 2002. He also won the longer dash in the World Youth championships in 2003.

When he ran 200 in 19.93 seconds in 2004 he became the first junior ever to dip under 20 seconds. But he had not run a sub-10 for the short dash before this year and had remained in the shadows of Powell. He now has four marks below 10 seconds.

Even now Bolt is shy of placing himself above Powell. “I think Asafa stopped running from about 80 metres,” he said of Powell’s second-place finish in the trials. No one will stop running in Beijing.

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