Bolt wins 200m gold with World record at Berlin
Usain Bolt won the 200 metres gold at the World Athletics Championships in a World record time of 19.19 seconds on Thursday.
The Jamaican, who dominated the 100 and 200 metres at last year’s Summer Olympics , was already the story of the World Championships after winning 100-metres title, bettering his own World record with a time of 9.58 seconds. Usain Bolt entered the Olympiastadion last night sporting a T-shirt with the message “Ich bin ein Berlino.” It was a reference to the name of the bear-like World Championship mascot and a twist on the words of John F Kennedy when he came to these parts in 1963 after the erection of the Berlin Wall. It is a shame the Jamaican talisman of track and field was not around in those days. He can demolish barriers like no other. It helped that Bolt got a lightning-quick start. He beat all seven of his rivals out of the blocks, registering a reaction time to the starter’s gun of 0.133sec. All seven of his nominal rivals, that is. Bolt’s only opponent thereafter was the clock just beyond the finish line. It proved to be no contest.
Blitzing round the bend with the rest of the field disappearing in his wake, he powered up the home straight and, with teeth gritted, crossed the line with the digits “19.20″ frozen on the electronic display. We were still gaping in amazement when the display clicked down to 19.19.
It was another quantum leap for sprinting kind by the 6ft 5in phenomenon, matching the margin by which he had broken his 100m record last Sunday, 0.11sec. When Bolt dropped flat on his back in celebration, Berlino the mascot picked him up and the pair pulled the trademark “To the World” Bolt pose in tandem. The crowd roared, all 75,000 of them. And the clowning Lightning Bolt could hardly stop laughing.
