How Bolt set the world on fire

Thursday, August 21: As Usain Bolt charged to Olympic glory with his world record in the 200m final yesterday, it seemed the world's press had their work cut out to put the Jamaican's achievements into words.

"He got down, bony and loose-limbed, on his mark," wrote Simon Barnes in the Times. "And then the gun went bang and he set the world on fire. He has allowed us to find a real and simple delight in the sight of an extraordinary man performing extraordinary deeds. I long to see him run again."

Reuters reports that Cathy Freeman, whose 400m triumph at the Sydney Olympics was a defining moment in Olympic history, could not find the words to speak and had to scribble her reaction on a piece of paper. "Bolt, like Michael Johnson, took sprinting to another level, in fact human experience in general," she wrote.

But it was the Jamaican press who waxed most lyrical. "Usain Bolt's brash, unapologetic and triumphant march into sporting history was like a million volts of fiery lightning finally breaking free," wrote Marc Wignall of the Jamaica Observer. For Wignall, Bolt's 100m triumph was "more than just a race. It was more than an in-your-face cry to get the attention that 'we are somebody'. It was much more than that. Usain Bolt has led the charge to affirm it [that "we are somebody"] with pride, defiance and justified arrogance."

And Bolt himself? "I just blew the world's mind."

FIRST POSTED AUGUST 21, 2008