Bolt locks up 100-meter title

Jamaican blazes to world-record time of 9.69, now sets his sights on the 200

BEIJING -- Pure speed 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 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.

"I was having fun," Bolt said. "That's just me -- I like to have fun."

Bolt's 0.20-second margin of victory matched the largest in an Olympic 100 final over the last 40 years.

"He's just a phenomenal athlete," said Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson, the NCAA champion from LSU who won the silver by finishing in 9.89, "and I don't think anyone would have beaten him with a run like that today."

Certainly not. Bolt turned in as transcendent a show as Olympic track and field has seen in years, perhaps dating to Michael Johnson's world-record 19.32 seconds in the 200 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

That mark could be next for Bolt, who considers the 200 his specialty. The heats for that event begin Monday, and the final is Wednesday, a day before his 22nd birthday.

Even though his left shoelace was dangling, the knot undone. Even though he skidded out of the starting blocks with the seventh-slowest reaction time in the eight-man final. Even though as recently as this month, Bolt left some doubt as to whether he would even contest the 100 in Beijing, because he didn't want to disrupt his preparation for the 200.

The talk for weeks has been about how Bolt might hold up in the four-round format at the Olympics, and how he'd do squaring off against Powell and reigning world champion Tyson Gay of the United States.

That didn't pan out. Gay, who acknowledged he paid for being sidelined the past 1 1/2 months after injuring his left hamstring at the U.S. Olympic trials, didn't even make the final, finishing fifth in his semi. Powell, meanwhile, was fifth in the final for a second consecutive Olympics, adding to his reputation for flopping on the big stage.

It was the first Olympic 100 in which six men finished in under 10 seconds. One of them, sixth-place finisher Michael Frater of Jamaica, described Bolt's new record this way: "No one will get near it."

There were other events on this clear night, other medals awarded. Nataliia Dobrynska of Ukraine won the heptathlon, with Hyleas Fountain earning a bronze for the first U.S. medal in that event since 1992.

Valerie Vili won the women's shot put, giving New Zealand its first Olympic gold medal in track and field since 1976.

The favorites advanced to today's semifinals in the women's 100.