Three Strikes: Bolt Leaves His Mark

LONDON — This was one for the ages, a record-breaking performance so dominating it electrified everyone who saw it in person at Olympic Stadium, who watched on television around the world and who will watch it in the days and years to come.

Usain Bolt is a once-in-history athlete. On Saturday night, in the final event of the track meet, in what may have been his final Olympic race — or may not, depending on his health and any number of variables — he unleashed raw, primal speed. It was at once fearsome and exhilarating.

Bolt and American Ryan Bailey, each man running the anchor leg in the men’s 4×100 relay, got his baton at roughly the same time, in the lane next to the other. The race was on. But only for an instant. Bolt separated himself, with every step widening the gap, the crowd roaring with the roar of an airplane on takeoff as he hammered toward the finish line.

When Bolt crossed, the clock stopped but the noise did not: 36.84 seconds, a new world record.

“For me, as a person,” Bolt said later, “I like to push the barriers. I like to do things nobody has ever done before. It sets you off from other people,” he said, adding a moment later, “We are happy and we will continue to push barriers.”

Bailey crossed in 37.04.

Understand: Bolt was so good that the Americans tied the old world record, set by the Jamaicans at last year’s world championships, and still ended up two-tenths of a second behind. In a sprint relay, two-tenths of a second might as well be a lifetime.

“I just remember running through the zone, putting my hand back and running for my life,” Bailey would say later.

The quartet from Trinidad and Tobago, which finished in 38.12, were awarded bronze after the Canadians were disqualified for a lane violation.

Take these figures with a grain of salt, perhaps, because these are relay numbers, but these were the Jamaican split times: Nesta Carter, 10.1 seconds; Michael Frater, 8.9; Yohan Blake, 9.0; Bolt, 8.8.

“Bolt! Bolt! Bolt!” the crowd of 80,000 yelled after the victory ceremony.

Of course.

In London, Bolt reprised his victories from Beijing four years ago — winning the 100, 200 and the relay. There he set three world records. Here — one.

At issue now is not whether he is the greatest sprinter in our world. That’s clear.

It’s his place in history. He declared himself a “legend.” Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, suggested “icon.”

At a late-night news conference, Bolt took issue with Rogge’s characterization, saying, “I would like to answer with a question: What else do I need to do to prove myself as a legend?” He went on a moment later: “Next time you see him, you should ask him, ‘What else does Usain need to do?’ I don’t know what else to do, really.”

What is abundantly plain is that Usain Bolt is a transcendent figure not just for track and field, which in recent years has struggled with the stain of doping scandals, but for the Olympic movement.

He has brought enormous, and mostly constructive, attention to both.

It is perhaps painful for aficionados to acknowledge but the reality is that most casual fans of the sport or the Games, when asked to name another track athlete, tend to reach back in history, to name someone like Michael Johnson or Carl Lewis.

That is Bolt’s influence. He makes people care about track and field the way it is now.

“We’re never going to see a legend like him again,” said Mo Farah, the British distance king who on Saturday night added 5,000-meter gold to the 10,000-meter title he won earlier at these Games.

When Seb Coe, the former middle-distance great who is now head of the London 2012 organizing committee, was asked before Saturday’s races what he thought of Bolt, he said, “Do I think what he does before and after races is over the top? No.”

Coe, who is also a vice-president of track’s governing body, which goes by the acronym IAAF, added, “We’re not a sport of automatons. We’re people that have got flair, intelligence and sometimes express it in all sorts of ways. God spare me from a sort of robotic approach to life. It’s great that our sport captures those great moments. And, yeah, he’s fantastic.”

Echoed the IAAF president, Lamine Diack, “He’s great for our sport. He has brought so much to it.”

Athletes at a U.S. Olympic Committee news conference said much the same thing.

“I really like Usain Bolt,” decathlon gold medalist Ashton Eaton said, adding a moment later, “I’m a big fan of anybody who is fulfilling whatever their dreams are, especially athletically. And I think he is definitely doing that. He is a showman — that’s his own deal. He’s fantastic on the track. He’s the fastest man to ever walk the face of the earth. That’s the title I think he deserves.”

Kayla Harrison, a judo gold medalist, said, “It’s amazing when one person can literally bring the entire world to look at one stage for 10 seconds. I’s amazing. He does a great job at making it entertaining.”

Justin Gatlin ran the second leg Saturday of the 4×100 Saturday. He won bronze in the open 100. He has seen a lot of Bolt’s backside at these Olympics. He said, “He pushes the boundaries. He helps make track and field a better sport. And he has pushed America to better ground.

‘I’m happy. I’m happy we’re doing it. I”m happy my teammates are brave to go out there. I’m going to go out there next year, and the rest of this year, and fight wholeheartedly.”

They can fight. But as Bolt said, “For me, these are the glory days.”

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