August 5, 2012

• Usain Bolt Defends Gold in 100 Meters 9.63 s

  

  Josh Haner/The New York Times

  Usain Bolt of Jamaica finished first in the men’s 100-meter final on Sunday

   

  

  Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

  Usain Bolt drew away in the final 20 meters in the men’s 100-meter final.

   

  Usain Bolt Defends Gold in 100 Meters

   

  By JERÉ LONGMAN

   

  LONDON — Four years later, still no one can catch Usain Bolt.

  An unimpressive start did little to keep Bolt from roaring past the rest of the field in the men’s 100 meters at the London Games on Sunday, and he crossed the finish line first, in an Olympic record 9.63 seconds, the second fastest time ever run.

  His Jamaican training partner, Yohan Blake, won the silver medal in 9.75 seconds, matching his personal best. Justin Gatlin of the United States, the 2004 Olympic champion whose career was derailed by steroid use, made a comeback with bronze in 9.79 seconds.

  “Right now the entire world says he’s unbeatable and right now he is,” said Tyson Gay of the United States, the fourth-place finisher. “I tried my best. I just came up short.”

  Back problems, issues with the starts of his races and skepticism about his sustained desire after winning three Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games had attended Bolt’s presence in London. No more.

  He began to draw away in the final 20 meters on Sunday with his long strides and became the first man to repeat as 100-meter champion in a race on the track. Carl Lewis won the 100 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and initially the silver at the 1988 Seoul Games; he was awarded the gold after the Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his title upon testing positive for steroids.

  Later this week, Bolt will seek to become the first man to repeat as Olympic champion at 100 and 200 meters.

  The charismatic Bolt, 25, set world records in the 100 and 200 at the Beijing Olympics, then stunningly lowered them again at the 2009 world track and field championships to 9.58 and 19.19. Apart from being the fastest man in the world, he also, as many saw it, became a savior for the sport, which has recently struggled for attention and for credibility after repeated doping scandals.

  But back problems and issues with his sprinting technique over the last two years had made Bolt appear vulnerable. At the recent Jamaican Olympic trials, he was defeated in the 100 and 200 by Blake, his countryman and training partner. Blake ran the year’s fastest 100 time of 9.75 seconds at the trials. In the 200, Blake ran Bolt down from behind, something few thought possible.

  In Sunday’s Olympic semifinal, though, the 6-foot-5 Bolt won his heat in 9.87, seeming relaxed and in form with powerful and elegant strides. He let off the accelerator before the finish and held his right index finger aloft, signaling that it could be premature to discount him as the world’s No. 1 sprinter.

  Blake, 22, responded with a 9.85 semifinal heat. He longed to be an athlete as a boy, but he was drawn at first to cricket, not track. He has said his family struggled financially and that he sometimes had to sell empty beer bottles to afford school and to carry water on his head for long distances because none was available at home.

  He began playing cricket at age 12, but his school principal noticed his speed and encouraged him to become a sprinter. Four years ago, Blake watched at home on television while Bolt won three gold medals (including the 4×100-meter relay).

  Since then, Bolt has nicknamed Blake the Beast for his rapacious training habits. Last year, Blake won the 100 at the world track and field championships after Bolt false-started. In 2011, Blake also ran the second-fastest 200 in history in 19.26 seconds.

  Gatlin is the 2004 Olympic champion, but the credibility of his career has suffered greatly. In 2006, Gatlin received a four-year suspension from competition after testing positive for illicit use of testosterone, the male sex hormone that is used in synthetic form by athletes as a muscle-building steroid.

  Gatlin denied that he was doping. He accused a massage therapist of sabotaging him by rubbing a testosterone cream onto his legs. The therapist denied the accusation. Gatlin’s former coach, Trevor Graham, and others in his one-time training group, including Marion Jones, also faced bans in the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or Balco, scandal.

  After his long, enforced layoff, Gatlin has exceeded his previous speed at age 30, a rare occurrence. He ran a personal best of 9.80 earlier this year and posted the fastest semifinal time on Sunday in 9.82 seconds.

   

  Copyright. 2012. The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved

   

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