A Bolt out of the Blue
Usain Bolt surprises hit trainers, fans, and the sports world
How fast can you ride your bicycle? You probably can’t ride as fast as Usain Bolt can run. The Jamaican sprinter set a new world record for the 100m race, with a time of 9.58 seconds, at the Berlin World Championships in August 2009. His average speed was more than 37 kilometer per hour. At one point he reached 44km/h. Bolt ran 100m in just 40 steps ― an amazing per-step distance.
In the 100m race, runners practice to improve their times by just a hundredth of a second. Their training is based on science. Good runners study data on their height, weight and muscle strength. Bolt did these kinds of training, too. His trainers, however, did not expect him to become the world’s best sprinter.
When he was in his teens, Bolt won the World Junior Championships. This made him a star in the running world. However, his body kept growing. Eventually his height reached 195cm. past record holders were American sprinter Tyson Gay, who was 183cm, and Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, who was 190cm. the fastest sprinters are usually under 190cm. many experts thought Bolt was too tall from a scientific point of view.
That’s why Bolt’s performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was like a “bolt out of the blue” ― a big surprise, now only for the spectators but also for the experts. He won the 100m race and set a new world record of 9.69 seconds. Some people didn’t like his “show” at the end, when he slowed down and pounded his chest for the camera. But he definitely left a strong impression on everyone. He also won the 200m race in 19.30 seconds and (with his teammates) the 400m relay in 37.10 seconds, setting the new world records in both. Then, just one year later, he broke his 100m and 200m records in Berlin.
Bolt isn’t sure which races he will run at the London Olympics in 2012. No one knows what to expect from the unpredictable Bolt, but the world will surely be watching.
