Lightning Bolt

The Beijing 2008 Olympics has primarily been about two names: Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.

Michael Phelps made history by winning 8 gold medals in the swimming pool and he did it with style (6 or 7 world records along the way).

After him came another man, Usain Bolt. The lanky Jamaican won the 100m without even trying. And today he won the 200m and both times he beat the world record. He's up for another gold in the 4x100m relay and seeing how good the Jamaican sprinters are, it's quite possible he'll win another one.

The debate continues about him winning the 100m. He started well, went ahead, and with 20m left he stopped trying and was celebrating already. Some people say that was disrespectful to the Olympic spirit (what spirit?), some say that he was just enjoying himself. Since everybody has an opinion on this one, I like to add mine.

For me, the Olympic is about winning, about getting gold medal. If you know that you have it in the bag, why try harder? Why not celebrate? It's not disrespectful at all. He was way ahead of everyone else, he looked around and then started slowing down and celebrating. Why should he run faster just to please the people? His aim was gold, he got gold. Simple.

I guess some people want to know how fast he could have been had he pushed all the way. Well, he would have definitely been faster, but he doesn't want it so why should we push for it? He beat the world record anyway (how did he do that? I still don't understand).

If only I could run as fast as Bolt...