Usain Bolt: End of an era

There is, perhaps, no other athlete that has so much caught the attention of the whole world in contemporary times as Usain Bolt. It is not just about his talent. Neither is it about his imposing frame. Usain Bolt brings something extra to his trade that makes fans enjoy watching him. He is an enigma who starts and ends a race in an unusual electrifying fashion. Bolt is a showman on the tracks and no doubt, the tracks, the fans and the sport immeasurably love him. The way he does his lap of honour at the end of each race is simply exhilarating.

Unlike any other superstar sprinter, unlike Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson, after winning a race, the drama has just begun for Bolt as he stops for every selfie, holding his now famous and iconic pose for every photographer. Sometimes, it takes him an hour to complete a lap of honor when the race proper had taken him less than 10 seconds. For Bolt, it goes beyond winning. It is about how much of the ecstasy of winning he could savour. It is a combination of these that have made Bolt the most globally recognised sportsman since Muhammad Ali, with a greater global fan base than Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan.

Like every good story, there is always a beginning. For Bolt, his real burst into global sporting reckoning began at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Except, perhaps, for die hard track and field enthusiasts, in Beijing, the world knew very little about the 21–year–old rookie. Thus, much was not really expected from him. Indeed, his qualification for the final of the 100m race was considered enough milestone for him. But then, the young and determined Bolt had other plans. By the time the 1000m race ended that summer night at the magnificent Beijing Olympics Stadium, the entire world was shocked to witness the arrival of a new track king.

Not only did Bolt win the 100m race, he did so by setting a new world record of 9.69 which remains valid till date. Since then, Bolt has grown to become a global sprint phenomenon. His Olympics record is, to say the least, awesome: three Olympics, three gold medals in each of the three races he competed for;  a world record in 100m, a world record in 200m, a world record in the sprint 400m relay. Not only has Bolt created Olympic and athletics records, he has equally redeemed the sport from its numerous doping scandals.

But for the grand entrance of Bolt into the scene, athletics was almost being ruined by the several doping scandals that had marred the image of the sport. For instance, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Shawn Crawford who won the 100m race and was trained by disgraced Coach Trevor Graham, ended his career with a doping sanction. Close behind Crawford in bronze at Athens was Justin Gatlin (the man who ironically spoiled the party for Bolt at his last individual race as an athlete at the 2017 World Athletics Championship 100m final in London) who was another of Graham’s doping products. Gatlin had been banned for one year and four years respectively for dope-related offences.  So, as the 2008 Beijing Olympics was approaching, almost every record-breaking sprinter – Justin Gatlin, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, had been busted for drugs. This was the doping–ravaged picture of athletics before Bolt came from the blues and gave the sport a clean new lease of life.

Throughout his reign from 2008-2017, as the sport numero uno, Bolt stood tall as the new symbol of athletics and an example that a new generation of aspiring athletes could emulate. He showed the world that an athlete does not need to cut corners before becoming a global prodigy. Through dint of hardwork and sheer determination, Bolt became a cult figure in the sporting fraternity. By the London 2012 Olympics, Bolt had so much elevated the status of the sport that over one million fans across the world jostled to buy the available 80,000 tickets for the 100m final event. This is aside hundreds of millions others that were glued to the television just to catch a glimpse of a ten -second