BOLT: BORN TO RUN!

The critics raised a lot of doubt and negative hype about Bolt, even suggesting that that 100 metre final would make or break him; but Bolt silenced them in grand style. Not only did he maintain his supremacy in the 100-metre event, he improved on his 2008 Beijing performance by 0.06 seconds and in the process created a new Olympic record of 9.63. In other words, Bolt is now faster than he was in the 2008 Olympics and he remains unquestionably the world's fastest man.

The probability for Bolt to do better was there; had he minimized his excessive frolicking (“dejaying” around the night clubs, late night forays, and “motor vehicle” indiscretions) and focus more sharply on improving his track performance, he perhaps would have shaved his own world record by 0.09 seconds to 9.50 seconds!

But Bolt is not only naturally talented; he is a tower of power and when he turns on his “big engine”, he has no competition.

After analysing the semi-final performances, it was clear that Bolt would win. It was clear that he - like his compatriot Blake - ran a strategic semi-final which gave him overwhelming confidence that he had the final under his belt.

It was apparent that the American contenders were coached to get out of the box as fast as they can and then to accelerate as fast as they can at all times. Indeed, both Gatlin and Gay both had excellent reaction times in both the semis and the finals; but the Jamaican contenders are coached differently. They combine speed, power, strategy and natural talent!

On the track, Bolt is initially driven by raw power and then by strategy, especially in the qualifiers. His raw power initially gets him ahead of the field of contenders; and once he achieves that goal, the rest is mainly strategy - that strategy also gives him and his coaching staff an opportunity to assess the bio-mechanical capabilities of his contenders and to give them ideas for “approaching” the race. Speed and natural talent come towards the conclusion of the race when they really turn on the heat.

Gay and Gatlin do not make use of their power potential; they run “mechanical” races which are void of “creativity”. They are too obsessed with the “speed” component and that’s why they ran consistently fast at all times, thinking by doing so they will get better every time; but that’s not enough to beat Bolt and Blake.

Bolt is the veteran; but I’m very impressed with Blake. Whether or not he can beat Bolt on the big stage, he is the man to watch. He is really fast!

Congratulations to the Caribbean boys!