An unprecedented third gold in the 100m in his final Games leaves Usain Bolt at an Olympian height never scaled by an athlete. The Jamaican needs only 41 steps as against the regular 45 of other competitors to cover 100m. But he needed to shake himself up from the second slowest reaction time in this race and being behind arch-rival and front-runner Justin Gatlin 40 metres out before he could raise his six-foot five-inch frame to its full height on the track and thump his chest in his trademark celebration. His remarkably clean record in the dope-tainted world of athletics makes Bolt a unique phenomenon.
This revealing piece of statistic is mind-boggling: Of the 30 fastest 100m times ever recorded in competition, nine including the top three are by Bolt. The other 21 are by athletes who have been tainted by dope at some point or other in their career. Having put his third 100m Olympic victory behind him, Bolt can expect to complete the “triple triple” before the week is out, which would represent a peak no man can even dream of ascending.
While the history of the Olympics is punctuated with the deeds of greats like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter, only a few could ever have made an impact like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps have. The swimmer climbed out of an Olympic pool for the last time with a haul of 23 golds among 28 medals. And 167 countries, including India, have not won that many medals in so many decades. Having twice the lung capacity of any man and size 14 feet that can bend 15 degrees at the ankles must help. Suffice it to say, the Olympics were blessed by the likes of Bolt and Phelps.
