There is no dearth of drama when Usain Bolt comes out of the tunnel. The energy he infuses into the people, who are merely watching him, has to be seen to be believed.
After stopping the clock at 19.32 seconds and retaining the 200m title, he indulged in some impromptu press-ups to indicate that he still had a lot left in him. As if that was not obvious from the way he finished with a finger on his lips, silencing the crowd.
Bolt led a Jamaican clean sweep as he finished with a season best timing of 19.32 sec while compatriot and close rival Yohan Blake took the silver medal with a season best timing of 19.44 sec.
The young Warren Weir of Jamaica claimed the bronze medal with a personal best timing of 19.84 sec amid a thunderous applause from a jam-packed crowd at the 80,000-seater Olympic stadium.
Bolt could have easily finished with a better timing but he slowed down towards the end and was seen looking behind to see how far Blake was when he crossed the finishing line.
Even in the victory lap, it was a Bolt show all the way.
A camera man’s delight, Bolt ensured that there were enough moments for the photographers to capture.
At one point, he himself took over the cameraman’s job by snapping pictures of his teammates Blake and Weir. He took the camera from one of the photographers and returned it to him after displaying his photographic skills.
And no victory celebration can be complete without Bolt’s now famous “to the world” pose which has now become his signature pose.
He did it few times during his victory lap much to the delight of the hordes of cameramen who were eager to capture various facets of the “Thunder Bolt’’.
He made it a point to stop for a while in front of the Jamaican spectators, who could be identified by holding aloft their national flag or wearing the Jamaican jersey.
They took photos of him, kissed him and hugged him but Bolt did no show any signs of irritants. In fact, it seemed he was loving the spotlight, the attention as it was his moment.
Many had doubted his form in the build-up to the Olympics during which he was beaten twice by compatriot Blake twice, but Bolt is made of sterner stuff and he responded in the most emphatic manner by clinching both the men’s 100 and 200m gold.