Olympic Diary : Day 9

The Greatest Show on Earth

It needed something special to relegate an Andy Murray thrashing of Roger Federer on Wimbledon centre court in the Olympic gold medal match to the footnotes. It needed a moment of history to make Britons forget ,albeit momentarily , their greatest day in Olympic history (just 24 hours prior) – the world waited as the most anticipated showdown of the London Games assembled on the start line , and we got the greatest sprint in the history of all competition. It was the first time in the modern Olympic era that all four of the fastest men in history at that moment were on the start line for the 100m final. It was the first time that 7 of the 8 starters (poor Asafa Powell might have pipped Gatlin but for that injury) recorded sub 10 second times. It was the first time that 3 athletes recorded sub 9.8 s times....so much for first times : Usain Bolt still won by a good metre.

You Cannot be Serious

There is something refreshingly simple about the 100 m sprint which appeals to the sentiments of striplings and greybeards alike – there are no tactics to be understood , no detailed discussions with coaches , no shadowboxing – the aim quite simply to get onto the other end of the track before the guy next to you does – and no one is history has done that quite so astonishingly and  emphatically as the big Jamaican.

This win might not have had the same shock and wow factor as his Beijing triumph, where shoelaces flying, he was beating his chest and slowing down a good 5 meters from the line , nor his Berlin world record where he posted the first sub 9.6 second time in history. In my opinion , this was still Bolt’s greatest race , judging by the strength , form and ultimately the performance of the rest of the field.

Yohan Blake is an immensely likeable athlete , and his pre-race warm ups laughs and high fives with Bolt were refreshingly good to see , in a discipline where athletes are wont to be moody and taciturn (before and after their events) – not so here ; both Bolt and Blake know how to get the crowd going, whether it be on the starting blocks or at the end of the race. With Bolt 30 in Rio ,  Blake is likely to be the premier sprinter 4 years down the line. But this moment was Usain's – sheer unadulterated genius

(Can’t wait for the 200 m and the Jamaican relay team to get going).

Footnotes : All other action in the games yesterday.

-Outstanding double gold by Serena Williams

- Murray finally making the big league (adding the mixed doubles silver to the singles gold)

- Kazakhstan winning a 6^th Olympic gold (women’s high jump)

-Lin Dan defending his Olympic gold in the men’s singles badminton

- China making complete sweep of all badminton golds ,

- Ben Ainslie winning a 5^th consecutive sailing gold.

- The amazing Mary Kom reaching the quarter finals in her boxing tournament.

Honourable Mention : “Bladerunner” Oscar Pistorius for simply competing and making the semi-finals. Thats essentially the Olympic Spirit , ain’t it ??