Opinion Bolt vs Them

Minutes after landing in Rio, Usain Bolt was asked if, during his long flight from home, he had dreamt about winning his third Olympic treble. “I didn’t sleep at all,” he said with a drawl. He isn’t the only one tossing and turning at night wondering about this Olympics’ sprint results; many around the world are gripped with a nervous tension, hoping that the tall Jamaican with the goofy smile and crazy acceleration continues to make a laughing stock of his rivals. Among his new fans are athletics administrators, Olympics organisers and anti-doping officials who are secretly craving to see Bolt’s “mother of all hat-tricks”. Not because he is the fastest but because he is seen to be the cleanest too.

Among those expected to line up next to Bolt on August 13 — the day the world will come to a standstill for about 9 seconds, the time the 100m final is expected to take — will be sprinters with a stained athletic biological passport. All hell is expected to break loose if any of them beat Bolt. The Russians, facing allegations of state-sponsored doping, will fire vicious torpedoes at the IOC. WADA’s testing and punishment policy will come under fresh scrutiny and world athletics could get a “fastest” man who isn’t necessarily the “cleanest”. Never before has a race meant so much to so many.

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The 100 m this time isn’t about Bolt vs Gatlin or Bolt vs Blake, it’s Bolt vs Them or Good vs Evil. In a city overlooked by the iconic statue of the Saviour standing with hands wide apart, Bolt gets to play the redeemer. For Bolt, this challenge isn’t really tough, but he may need to sprint on thin ice. He suffered a hamstring niggle recently but has recovered now. The world knows he has to his name the top two fastest ever 100m timings at the Olympics but few are talking about the Jamaican superstar having only one of the 33 best times this year. Don’t lose heart, timings and form haven’t bothered the man who takes wing on the big race days. Just trust in “Bolt the Redeemer”.