Bolt strikes with world record in 100

BEIJING — He ran the final nine steps with his arms down, his palms facing the finish line, as if he were asking the 92,000 fans inside the Bird's Nest, "What did you expect?"

Two steps from the finish he pounded his fist against his chest.

Usain Bolt ran a world-record 9.69 in the final of the Olympic 100 meters as if it were an invitational in Modesto.

He more loped than ran the final 10 meters, looking like an outfielder going after a fly ball. If there's something like a home-run trot in track, this was it.

"I was happy, so I celebrated," said Bolt, wondering what all the fuss was about.

You shouldn't be able to do this at the Olympics. The 100 meters is so competitive, one wobble will cost a runner a medal. But Bolt wiggled and wobbled and celebrated like he had planned all of this in advance.

"I came here to be a champion," Bolt said. "That's all I came here to do."

He was more than a champion; he's a world-record holder. Imagine what he might have done if he had run through the finish.

"I say he would have run a 9.62," said fellow Jamaican Michael Frater, who finished sixth.

After he finished, Bolt turned to the crowd and, as he had done before the race, did his lightning-bolt pose. Never was a pose or a name more perfect for a sport.

"You have to understand something about our people," said Dr. Herb Elliott, Jamaica's public-health officer in charge of athletic drug-testing on his island. "We Jamaicans are showmen, and Usain is one of our best showmen."

Bolt didn't just win the 100, he sent a message to the world's sprinters that they are entering a new era. He's only 21, but already Bolt owns the field.

On the grandest stage in sports, he played with the minds of the fastest people on the planet.

"He's a freak of nature," said the United States' Darvis Patton, who finished eighth.

This was supposed to be a race for all time. Bolt, his Jamaican countryman Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay were expected to light up the Beijing night.

But Gay, who injured his leg six weeks ago, was out of shape and didn't qualify for the final. Powell finished a well-beaten fifth, forced to watch his friend prance to the finish in front of him. After the race Powell blew past reporters without talking, leaving the gushing to others.

"When we go out there it's showtime, and he came through with that," Patton said. "You guys saw what he can do, and I was fortunate enough to have a front-row seat to it."

Bolt is scary good and just getting started. He will cut hundredths of seconds off his record when he improves his starts. And he could cut a tenth of a second if he ran hard from start to finish.

"Remember, he is really a 200-meter runner," Elliott said. "He's only just learning how to run the 100."

But for now, Bolt is young and impetuous and he's having too much fun to worry about little things like hundredths of a second. The fine points of running will come with age.

"I don't think there's any way a human being could have beaten him tonight," Frater said. "He's awesome. He's a phenomenon. I don't think anyone expected him to run that fast, that easy. And it's just a matter of time before he produces even faster times."

Bolt is redefining the nature of the game. In another sport, his actions might be criticized as disrespectful. But a little jolt of Bolt is exactly what track and field needs.

"People will say he's showboating, but the guy's only 21 — he's just having fun," Patton said. "Look how much attention he's getting for it. I love it. He's just bringing more notoriety to the sport. I didn't think he was trying to intimidate us or nothing like that. He was just having fun. To be honest, I kind of enjoyed it."

Can he be caught, or is Bolt unbeatable?

"Anything's possible," Patton said. "Anybody can be beat on any given day. Last year you guys thought that Asafa Powell was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Tonight the guy didn't even medal. But this year was just Bolt's year. Can he be caught this year? Probably not."

In 2008, the world belongs to Usain Bolt. Don't expect him to give it up soon.

Steve Kelley: skelley@seattletimes.com.

Read his blog from China at www.seattletimes.com/Olympics