BOLT By Name and BOLT by Nature "Didn't Even Try": Comparisons to Ben Johnson Fly

Time stood still in the Birds Nest last night. The clock at first registered 9.68sec just as Usain Bolt was hurtling across the finishing line and heading with jet-propelled shoes towards the stands on the far side of the track. When it was adjusted to a mere 9.69sec, in the interests of modesty, 91,000 people still rubbed their eyes in astonishment not just at the new world record time but at the fact that the new Olympic champion was showboating 10m before the finish. Had he pulled out all the stops, the clock would have cried out for mercy.

There were conflicting images of this memorable and almost mystical night. One was of the two other Jamaicans in the field, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell, fifth and sixth respectively, standing shoulder to shoulder looking up in bewilderment at the big screen, first at the times and then at the replay of the fastest 100m in history, in which they had barely played bit parts. In the meantime, the new champion was cavorting with a legion of Jamaican fans 100m away.

The other image comes from 1988 and the sense of disbelief at the overwhelming dominance of Ben Johnson. The side-on shot showed the same chasm between first and second in Seoul; fronton photographs also recorded the sideways glance that Carl Lewis gave Johnson on the line. Had he been able to see that far, Richard Thomson’s face might have registered the same mixture of dismay and disbelief last night.

“I see him slowing down in front of me and I’m still pumping away,” said the Trin-idadian. “Usain’s a phenomenal athlete. No one will beat him if he runs like that.” The thought echoed the sentiments of Michael Johnson, whose world record of 19.32sec looks under severe threat if the 21-year-old - he turns 22 in four days time - decides to get serious in time for the 200m this week. “We have seen the greatest display of 100m sprinting in history,” said Johnson.