At 29, Usain Bolt is old, but not ancient. Sunday night Bolt did it again. The Jamaican sprinter has already defied time by winning his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash, or bolt, if you will. Writes the WSJ:
He’s fun to watch as a three-Olympics geezer. It’s pretty clear Bolt will never again threaten his 9.58 world record, which still stands, but he now substitutes the otherworldly speed of his youth with a charming, veteran craftiness. On Sunday, Bolt never came across as anxious or overmatched, unprepared for the moment. He’d been there. He knew what he needed to do to win. He won. It may have not been the full electric Bolt show, but first is what matters now.
He is utterly comfortable in those golden shoes, the pressure of that moment. Think about it: Bolt is on the shortest list of earth’s most recognizable beings. He’s known everywhere he goes. And yet he projects no existential fatigue with the position, or the global craving for him to deliver. The most recognizable man at the Olympics is staying in the Olympic Village, for goodness’ sake, posing for selfies with mortals who will never make it out of a preliminary heat, pulling his own luggage, turning the same wobbly doorknobs like everybody else. He’s OK with that. He’s into it. There are backup right-fielders in baseball who project more jaded weariness about celebrity than Bolt.
Usain Bolt—a joy to watch on or off the track.
You can watch the race here.
