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OC chief should thank, not lecture, Jamaican sprint champ Usain Bolt
Thursday, August 21st 2008, 11:21 PM
Getty Usain Bolt's antics while sprinting into Olympic history are harmless and not deserving of Jacques Rogge's lecture.
BEIJING - The fans at the Bird's Nest sang "Happy Birthday" to Usain Bolt a second time on Thursday night, part of his gold medal ceremony for the 200-meter dash. It was their way of thanking him for rescuing the track and field competition here at the Olympics; for breathing life into a venue that wasn't meeting its hero quotient.
The crowd belted out the words in English. Bolt beamed. He is having the time of his life, the way any athlete should. And if he has acted sometimes like a joyful, harmless knucklehead, he also broke two world records in glamour events, the 100 and 200. He made people everywhere forget that Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang withdrew in agony and that the Americans can't pass a baton from one hand to another.
Yet for all this hard work, Bolt received a surprising gift earlier Thursday from the International Olympic Committee on his 22nd birthday:
He was scolded by the big Olympic cheese himself, Jacques Rogge.
"He is a young man but he should show more respect for his rivals," Rogge told reporters. "That would be more in the spirit of the Olympic ideal. It would be good not to have a repeat of the ‘catch me if you can' gesture."
PHOTO GALLERY: LIGHTNING BOLT STRIKES TWICE
Rogge was talking about Bolt's amazing ability to out-sprint the world's fastest runners while performing mime duty at the same time. Bolt pounded his chest in mid-stride during the 100. He spread his arms dismissively before hitting the finish line, then playfully danced like an extraterrestrial chicken after the 200.
He behaved a lot like Terrell Owens after a touchdown, unconcerned about a penalty on the ensuing kickoff.
We all want our sports heroes to be Derek Jeter. But you know what? Rogge has a lot more important things to worry about than Bolt's antics. His Olympics are filled with other examples of truly bad sportsmanship and remain suspect on the topic of drug use. He rarely singles out athletes for such things, and has more appropriate targets than Bolt.
Consider what has already happened here in Beijing: A Swedish weightlifter left his bronze medal on the podium, angry at a judging decision. The Brazilian soccer team, down a couple of goals, played like thugs in the final minutes against Argentina. Fernando Gonzalez of Chile pretended the ball didn't hit his racket on a key point in a match against James Blake.
The U.S. women's basketball coach called Becky Hammon, "a traitor." The Chinese and Americans are still arguing beanballs. A handful of athletes have tested positive for drugs, and the Jamaicans have come under considerable suspicion about their out-of-competition testing.
So there are plenty of things for Rogge to worry about, including Bolt's drug-testing schedule. But the chicken dance? That should not be a problem.
Rogge said Bolt needed "to mature."
"He should shake hands with (opponents) after the finish line," Rogge said. "However, he is only 21 and he will learn."
This is all reminiscent of the American relay team's behavior eight years ago in Sydney, when the American relay team of Maurice Greene, Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams and Brian Lewis posed and flexed foolishly with the American flag. They ended up apologizing to the world over nothing much, while Marion Jones was stealing gold medals under everybody's nose with a drug-enhanced body.
Until proven differently, like it or not, Bolt is clean as a whistle. That's the way these things work, even in an era when you know you can't always believe our own eyes.
Rogge had to admit Bolt's accomplishments thus far in Beijing had been remarkable. He ran the 100 in 9.69 seconds and the 200 in 19.30, breaking a relatively long-standing world record set by the formidable Michael Johnson. He still has the 4x100 relay on Friday.
"He must be considered like Jesse Owens in the 1930's," Rogge said. "However, he has a bigger edge over his rivals. If he maintains this gap then he will be quite something."
Bolt is somebody big, and Rogge should get down on his knees to thank the guy for saving the track meet. The Olympics are all about the right man meeting the right stage. Just two months ago, when Bolt broke the 100 world record at Randalls Island, nobody in New York seemed to notice.
Now we can't get enough of him. You watch his antics and smile affectionately.
Or if you're Rogge, you start delivering middle-aged lectures.
Thursday, August 21st 2008, 11:21 PM
Getty Usain Bolt's antics while sprinting into Olympic history are harmless and not deserving of Jacques Rogge's lecture.BEIJING - The fans at the Bird's Nest sang "Happy Birthday" to Usain Bolt a second time on Thursday night, part of his gold medal ceremony for the 200-meter dash. It was their way of thanking him for rescuing the track and field competition here at the Olympics; for breathing life into a venue that wasn't meeting its hero quotient.
The crowd belted out the words in English. Bolt beamed. He is having the time of his life, the way any athlete should. And if he has acted sometimes like a joyful, harmless knucklehead, he also broke two world records in glamour events, the 100 and 200. He made people everywhere forget that Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang withdrew in agony and that the Americans can't pass a baton from one hand to another.
Yet for all this hard work, Bolt received a surprising gift earlier Thursday from the International Olympic Committee on his 22nd birthday:
He was scolded by the big Olympic cheese himself, Jacques Rogge.
"He is a young man but he should show more respect for his rivals," Rogge told reporters. "That would be more in the spirit of the Olympic ideal. It would be good not to have a repeat of the ‘catch me if you can' gesture."
PHOTO GALLERY: LIGHTNING BOLT STRIKES TWICE
Rogge was talking about Bolt's amazing ability to out-sprint the world's fastest runners while performing mime duty at the same time. Bolt pounded his chest in mid-stride during the 100. He spread his arms dismissively before hitting the finish line, then playfully danced like an extraterrestrial chicken after the 200.
He behaved a lot like Terrell Owens after a touchdown, unconcerned about a penalty on the ensuing kickoff.
We all want our sports heroes to be Derek Jeter. But you know what? Rogge has a lot more important things to worry about than Bolt's antics. His Olympics are filled with other examples of truly bad sportsmanship and remain suspect on the topic of drug use. He rarely singles out athletes for such things, and has more appropriate targets than Bolt.
Consider what has already happened here in Beijing: A Swedish weightlifter left his bronze medal on the podium, angry at a judging decision. The Brazilian soccer team, down a couple of goals, played like thugs in the final minutes against Argentina. Fernando Gonzalez of Chile pretended the ball didn't hit his racket on a key point in a match against James Blake.
The U.S. women's basketball coach called Becky Hammon, "a traitor." The Chinese and Americans are still arguing beanballs. A handful of athletes have tested positive for drugs, and the Jamaicans have come under considerable suspicion about their out-of-competition testing.
So there are plenty of things for Rogge to worry about, including Bolt's drug-testing schedule. But the chicken dance? That should not be a problem.
Rogge said Bolt needed "to mature."
"He should shake hands with (opponents) after the finish line," Rogge said. "However, he is only 21 and he will learn."
This is all reminiscent of the American relay team's behavior eight years ago in Sydney, when the American relay team of Maurice Greene, Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams and Brian Lewis posed and flexed foolishly with the American flag. They ended up apologizing to the world over nothing much, while Marion Jones was stealing gold medals under everybody's nose with a drug-enhanced body.
Until proven differently, like it or not, Bolt is clean as a whistle. That's the way these things work, even in an era when you know you can't always believe our own eyes.
Rogge had to admit Bolt's accomplishments thus far in Beijing had been remarkable. He ran the 100 in 9.69 seconds and the 200 in 19.30, breaking a relatively long-standing world record set by the formidable Michael Johnson. He still has the 4x100 relay on Friday.
"He must be considered like Jesse Owens in the 1930's," Rogge said. "However, he has a bigger edge over his rivals. If he maintains this gap then he will be quite something."
Bolt is somebody big, and Rogge should get down on his knees to thank the guy for saving the track meet. The Olympics are all about the right man meeting the right stage. Just two months ago, when Bolt broke the 100 world record at Randalls Island, nobody in New York seemed to notice.
Now we can't get enough of him. You watch his antics and smile affectionately.
Or if you're Rogge, you start delivering middle-aged lectures.
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