London 2012: Usain Bolt – the Editor’s take

We never really doubted him, did we? How could we, us mere-mortals, expect Usain Bolt to be like us?

The biggest sports star on the planet, bigger than anything athletics has seen before or is likely see again, Bolt has it all: the swagger, the confidence, the personailty, and most importantly, the gold medals.

Coming into London 2012, his aura of invincibility had begun to fade. Bolt’s training partner, Yohan “The Beast” Blake, had beaten him at Crystal Palace and, of course, there was that false start at the World Championships last year. It was something we had never seen about Bolt before, and it lead to speculation about who would be the Olympic Champion.

Of course, it was always going to be Bolt. London 2012 was his time, he told us so himself. He knew he was going to win gold, he just had to prove it. When he stumbled out the blocks, all the critics seemed to be right, all the pressure of that false start last year seemed to have got to him, but by the 50-metre point he was back with the leading runners and by 80 metres he had clear daylight between him and the rest and by the finish line, the legend was born.

The crowd went wild, the critics went quiet and Bolt smiled as if to say: “I told you so.” London 2012 was his time and the World and Olympic records belong to Bolt, two consecutive gold medals belong to Bolt.

London 2012 belongs to Usain Bolt.

Dean Mears, Sports Editor