BEIJING: Jamaica celebrated Usain "Lightning" Bolt's double sprint Olympic victory and set their sights on yet more track glory in China on Thursday.
Bolt was again the toast of his Caribbean homeland with a blistering 200 meters win at the end of Wednesday's action that broke American sprinter Michael Johnson's 1996 world record.
Added to his earlier 100m victory, that made Bolt the first man since America's Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the double and cemented Jamaica's reputation for speed as well as reggae.
"I'm Number One," the joyous athlete mouthed at cameras, thumping his chest and blowing kisses at the 91,000 Bird's Nest crowd. They sang "Happy Birthday" to Bolt, who is 22 on Thursday.
In a remarkable double disqualification causing debate into the early hours, Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix came fourth and fifth after Bolt but took silver and bronze when two athletes ahead were disqualified for running out of lanes.
The Jamaican, variously dubbed the "U-Bolt" and "Insane Usain", may now return to the track and try for a third gold in the 400m men's relay at the weekend.
Before then, the limelight turns to Jamaica's similarly high-achieving women in Thursday's 200m showdown.
Jamaican women have already swept the 100m medals.
No comments:
Post a Comment