It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! No wait---it’s Usain Bolt, the only man in the world actually faster than a speeding bullet! That may be a bit of a hyperbole, but after seeing what the Jamaican sprinter did to Beijing, one thing is clear: track & field has a new face.

First it was the 100 meters. Bolt coasted through preliminary heats then blew away the field in the final. His one drawback has been a shaky start out of the blocks. The difference between winning and losing the race was his start. He got out, well, like a bolt and proceeded to blow out the field, setting a new world record of 9.69 seconds. The scariest part is that he slowed up with about 15 meters remaining and began to celebrate. One can only wonder what he would have ran had he run hard all the way through the finish line: 9.6? 9.5? Even better?

Next up was the 100’s cousin, the 200-meter dash. Bolt again breezed to the final, but this time powered through the finish line. As he crossed the clock read 19.30, another World Record, this time breaking a Michael Johnson time. In sweeping the 100 and 200, Bolt became the first man to do so since Carl Lewis in the ’84 games.

Lastly, the 4x100 meter relay. Jamaica passed the baton with perfect execution, Bolt broke through running the 3rd leg and handed off to teammate Asafa Powell, who separated himself from the pack on his way to Olympic gold. Once again, Bolt did his archer pose in lieu of victory and showed the world it’s not being cocky if you can back it up.

Victories in 3 short-sprint events have confirmed two things: Usain Bolt is the real deal, and a new breed of sprinter has emerged in the sport of track & field. Tall, lanky, and muscular can top short, quick, and bulky.

While Bolt dominated the track, the United States was caught on the other end of the spectrum. Disappointments littered sports section headlines across the country all week. They included:
- Tyson Gay failing to make the 100 finals - The men’s and women’s 4x100 relays being disqualified for dropped batons
- Lolo Jones clipping the ninth hurdle and finishing 7th in the 100-meter hurdles
- Sanya Richards breaking down in the homestretch and winning bronze after being favored to win gold
- Bernard Lagat failing to make finals in the 1,500
- Allyson Felix taking silver in the 200 after being favored to win gold

Countering this was a U.S. sweep in the 400 meters, although Jeremy Wariner, defending Olympic Champion, placed second to LaShawn Merrit. In the final 100, Merrit outkicked Wariner, who labored. The loss prompted many to wonder about his new training. Earlier in the year he was involved in controversy when he fired his longtime coach Clyde Hart, and hired Michael Ford. It was said to be a “business” decision, but his loss begs the question, “if it’s not broken, why fix it?” After the race, Wariner, refused to talk to NBC about the coaching change. Still, he won silver and the U.S. took all 3 podium spots, a positive for the country.

Another positive was Bryan Clay winning gold in the decathlon and becoming the first American to win since Dan O’Brien in the ‘96 games in Atlanta.

The baton drop by the 4x100 squads epitomized the poor performances by the United States. Passing the stick is the single most important thing in a relay and they could not do it. Symbolic of the sloppy running by the U.S. in general was the pins on the 4x100 teams. All other teams had their countries abbreviations’ printed neatly on their pins. The United States’ was scribbled in black Sharpie.

For some, it was a triumphant Olympics, but for many U.S. runners, they couldn’t be happier to fly away from the Bird’s Nest.

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