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NBC Sports analyst Ato Boldon examines Usain Bolt's global popularity
By Ato Boldon, Special to Universal Sports | Posted: May 4, 6:42a ET | Updated: May 4, 6:42a ET
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"The Inside Track" is a six-part guest columnist series in which a panel of some of the most progressive and influential figures in the athletics industry will offer their vision for the sport as a prelude to the adidas Grand Prix on Saturday, June 12, at Icahn Stadium in New York City. Have a thought about this column? Want to share your own ideas on the future of the sport? Register on Universal Sports to comment below and join in the discussion on the adidas Grand Prix Facebook page.
***
Tennis has Federer. Golf has Tiger. Soccer has Beckham. Basketball has Kobe.
They are names whose mere mention, anywhere on the planet, convey sporting dominance and excellence. And yet none of them has had the dominant or excellent past two years that track's signature name has.
Bolt. Usain Bolt.
When he showed up in New York on Randall's Island in 2008 to run the men's 100m against then-World Champion Tyson Gay, he was relatively unknown worldwide and was not even the prohibitive favorite. A huge thunderstorm delayed the start of his race that evening, and then it was Lightning Bolt's turn. A mere 9.72 seconds after the gun sounded, a star was born. In only his third race at the distance, he had become the world's fastest, ever.
Since that night in New York, Bolt has lost a grand total of one race by about one inch and set-no obliterated-five sprint world records en route to winning a combined total of six gold medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing and last year's World Championships in Berlin.
That's the "what."
The "how" is the reason why he is one of the globe's most popular, recognizable and talked about athletes.
Sprint events were previously thought to require the sternest of pre-race game faces, but Bolt steps to the line as though it's a race on Cornwall Beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Camera mugging? Check.
Break dance? Probably.
All that before he even gets called to the blocks. Post-race posing is something track fans have been used to for years. Bolt has introduced the world to pre-race posturing, and yet, somehow has not alienated or irritated track and field fans or all of his competitors.
"I feel really blessed to be competing in the same era as this guy," said American sprinter Darvis "Doc" Patton last month. If there is animosity or envy from his competitors, they are hiding it well. Patton has had a great view of Bolt in the past two years; he's been well behind in both of Bolt's 100m world record races.
Therein lies the magic of what Bolt continues to do. He doesn't shut you out of the party; he subliminally invites fans and competitors to "dance" with him, as long as you know he is the one spinning the tunes-literally, sometimes.
With die-hard track fans galore in Jamaica in March this year for the annual High School Championships-"Champs" to the familiar-Bolt showed up at Club Fiction, a popular local nightclub, at 3:00 a.m. With his MacBook in hand and entourage in tow, Bolt evicted the club's DJ so he could fill in until the sun came up. For Bolt, that's not a rare occurrence; it's normal.
Whatever Michael Jordan was to Chicago in his heyday, multiply it by 10 to get a sense of Bolt's status in Jamaica, an island of just under three million people who live, eat, sleep and breathe track and field. No other country on earth claims track and field as their No. 1 sport.
When hip-hop artist Ludacris-he of the worldwide fame, multi-platinum record sales and burgeoning movie career-was special guest at Bolt's 9.58 Super Party in Jamaica in 2009, even he seemed to concede the superstar throne to Jamaica's most popular citizen since Bob Marley.
***
Truth is, we should have all seen this coming.
In 2002 at age 15 on home soil in Jamaica, Bolt won the World Junior 200m crown with consummate ease. That's about three years younger than most who have ever copped that title. But his arrival on my radar really came on April 11, 2004, at the Carifta Games-the Caribbean Junior Championships-in Bermuda where I witnessed a 17-year-old Bolt run 19.93. That on a 50-degree day in Bermuda in April-and he wasn't really trying for the last 50 meters. You couldn't blame him for not running harder since he was almost 10 meters ahead at the finish line.
That world junior record he set on that day will no doubt be there still when Jesus returns. Consider this for perspective: that winning time Bolt ran in 2004, barely trying, would have been second in the Beijing 200m Olympic final in 2008 to ONLY a 21-year-old version of himself.
I consider myself fortunate, as it concerns Bolt, for two reasons.
In the way that people who have seen the Pyramids of Giza or the Taj Mahal will tell you, pictures and film do neither of them appreciable justice. Same for Usain. I have been in the broadcast booth during each of Bolt's five world records, and the memory of each has been seared into my brain somewhere closely below the birth of my children. No one who witnesses one in person ever forgets a Bolt world record.
My second serving of fortune is reflected in the fact that I never had to compete against him. With the exception of the Michael Johnson's "golden shoe 19.32 massacre" in the Olympic 200m final in 1996, in which I placed a very, very distant third as a college senior, I had a legitimate chance to win every single race I ever started as a pro.
Against Bolt, most of the 100m races he starts would require his competition to suddenly find two-tenths of a second of improvement-something most pro sprinters never do in an entire career-just to make it competitive. Against him in the 200m dash, it's even worse. Try seven-tenths improvement there. In other words, it's hardly a fair fight, and for that, I sympathize with the rest of the sprint world because I can't comprehend what that must be like.
Based on his current world records of 9.58 and 19.19 at age 23, I believe that he will lower the 100m record to the mid 9.4-second range and the 200m close to 19.00. Then, after the Olympics in London 2012, he will pursue the 400m world record and become the first man to run under 43 seconds for that distance. The record currently stands at 43.18.
***
Bolt's astronomical performances in the past two years have not been lost on the cynics. All over the globe, the question asked of me after, "What is it like to witness Bolt run live?" is occasionally, "How is that humanly possible without chemical help?" Through no fault of his own, Bolt's performances are sometimes looked at through dirty-urine-tinted glasses-Peter paying for Paul in this case, with Bolt being Peter and Paul being the ghosts of busted-sprint-greats past.
I defend all current track athletes from those sorts of aspersions, but with Bolt even more so. Why? For one thing, I can trace his rise to greatness quite clearly. And in my days as an athlete, I competed against most of the sprinters who turned up guilty of doping in the last decade. All had one thing in common: a seeming lack of real joy in competing. Bolt is the exact opposite.
On June 12 at the adidas Grand Prix, Usain St. Leo Bolt returns to the city and the event that launched him into superstardom. I will again be there in the broadcast booth to witness what promises to be an event to remember, and hopefully you will too. If you haven't already secured your tickets to see him live, it's close to too late. Almost certainly, Bolt will be spinning his 100m dash tune for all who are present.
I hope you dance.
Ato Boldon is a former World Champion and eight-time medalist at the World Championships and Olympic Games, and a former Senator in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He is currently the sprint analyst for ESPN, CBS and NBC Sports' coverage of track and field.
By Ato Boldon, Special to Universal Sports | Posted: May 4, 6:42a ET | Updated: May 4, 6:42a ET
Related to this article
Video
- <LI class=PhotoElement sizset="62" sizcache="42">
Bolt sets another WR in 200m
Jamaican Olympic champion runs an astonishing 19.19 to smash own world record.
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Usain Bolt goes golfing
April 28, 2010: Jamaican track star Usain Bolt tees it up during a promotional appearance at the Mojo 6 Jamaica LPGA Invitational.
<LI class=ListElement sizset="67" sizcache="42">2010 Penn Relays: Bolt-mania » <LI class=ListElement sizset="68" sizcache="42">Usain Bolt wins Laureus Award » <LI class=ListElement sizset="69" sizcache="42">Usain Bolt honored in Mexico » <LI class=ListElement sizset="70" sizcache="42">IAAF Worlds: Usain Bolt 200m » <LI class=ListElement sizset="71" sizcache="42">Who's faster, Bolt or his pet? » - IAAF Worlds: Usain Bolt on the podium »
- <LI class=ListElement sizset="73" sizcache="42">Holman: Where have all the track fans gone? » <LI class=ListElement sizset="74" sizcache="42">Patrick: Track media coverage must evolve »
- More on the adidas Grand Prix »
"The Inside Track" is a six-part guest columnist series in which a panel of some of the most progressive and influential figures in the athletics industry will offer their vision for the sport as a prelude to the adidas Grand Prix on Saturday, June 12, at Icahn Stadium in New York City. Have a thought about this column? Want to share your own ideas on the future of the sport? Register on Universal Sports to comment below and join in the discussion on the adidas Grand Prix Facebook page.
***
Tennis has Federer. Golf has Tiger. Soccer has Beckham. Basketball has Kobe.
They are names whose mere mention, anywhere on the planet, convey sporting dominance and excellence. And yet none of them has had the dominant or excellent past two years that track's signature name has.
Bolt. Usain Bolt.
When he showed up in New York on Randall's Island in 2008 to run the men's 100m against then-World Champion Tyson Gay, he was relatively unknown worldwide and was not even the prohibitive favorite. A huge thunderstorm delayed the start of his race that evening, and then it was Lightning Bolt's turn. A mere 9.72 seconds after the gun sounded, a star was born. In only his third race at the distance, he had become the world's fastest, ever.
Since that night in New York, Bolt has lost a grand total of one race by about one inch and set-no obliterated-five sprint world records en route to winning a combined total of six gold medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing and last year's World Championships in Berlin.
That's the "what."
The "how" is the reason why he is one of the globe's most popular, recognizable and talked about athletes.
Sprint events were previously thought to require the sternest of pre-race game faces, but Bolt steps to the line as though it's a race on Cornwall Beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Camera mugging? Check.
Break dance? Probably.
All that before he even gets called to the blocks. Post-race posing is something track fans have been used to for years. Bolt has introduced the world to pre-race posturing, and yet, somehow has not alienated or irritated track and field fans or all of his competitors.
"I feel really blessed to be competing in the same era as this guy," said American sprinter Darvis "Doc" Patton last month. If there is animosity or envy from his competitors, they are hiding it well. Patton has had a great view of Bolt in the past two years; he's been well behind in both of Bolt's 100m world record races.
Therein lies the magic of what Bolt continues to do. He doesn't shut you out of the party; he subliminally invites fans and competitors to "dance" with him, as long as you know he is the one spinning the tunes-literally, sometimes.
With die-hard track fans galore in Jamaica in March this year for the annual High School Championships-"Champs" to the familiar-Bolt showed up at Club Fiction, a popular local nightclub, at 3:00 a.m. With his MacBook in hand and entourage in tow, Bolt evicted the club's DJ so he could fill in until the sun came up. For Bolt, that's not a rare occurrence; it's normal.
Whatever Michael Jordan was to Chicago in his heyday, multiply it by 10 to get a sense of Bolt's status in Jamaica, an island of just under three million people who live, eat, sleep and breathe track and field. No other country on earth claims track and field as their No. 1 sport.
When hip-hop artist Ludacris-he of the worldwide fame, multi-platinum record sales and burgeoning movie career-was special guest at Bolt's 9.58 Super Party in Jamaica in 2009, even he seemed to concede the superstar throne to Jamaica's most popular citizen since Bob Marley.
***
Truth is, we should have all seen this coming.
In 2002 at age 15 on home soil in Jamaica, Bolt won the World Junior 200m crown with consummate ease. That's about three years younger than most who have ever copped that title. But his arrival on my radar really came on April 11, 2004, at the Carifta Games-the Caribbean Junior Championships-in Bermuda where I witnessed a 17-year-old Bolt run 19.93. That on a 50-degree day in Bermuda in April-and he wasn't really trying for the last 50 meters. You couldn't blame him for not running harder since he was almost 10 meters ahead at the finish line.
That world junior record he set on that day will no doubt be there still when Jesus returns. Consider this for perspective: that winning time Bolt ran in 2004, barely trying, would have been second in the Beijing 200m Olympic final in 2008 to ONLY a 21-year-old version of himself.
I consider myself fortunate, as it concerns Bolt, for two reasons.
In the way that people who have seen the Pyramids of Giza or the Taj Mahal will tell you, pictures and film do neither of them appreciable justice. Same for Usain. I have been in the broadcast booth during each of Bolt's five world records, and the memory of each has been seared into my brain somewhere closely below the birth of my children. No one who witnesses one in person ever forgets a Bolt world record.
My second serving of fortune is reflected in the fact that I never had to compete against him. With the exception of the Michael Johnson's "golden shoe 19.32 massacre" in the Olympic 200m final in 1996, in which I placed a very, very distant third as a college senior, I had a legitimate chance to win every single race I ever started as a pro.
Against Bolt, most of the 100m races he starts would require his competition to suddenly find two-tenths of a second of improvement-something most pro sprinters never do in an entire career-just to make it competitive. Against him in the 200m dash, it's even worse. Try seven-tenths improvement there. In other words, it's hardly a fair fight, and for that, I sympathize with the rest of the sprint world because I can't comprehend what that must be like.
Based on his current world records of 9.58 and 19.19 at age 23, I believe that he will lower the 100m record to the mid 9.4-second range and the 200m close to 19.00. Then, after the Olympics in London 2012, he will pursue the 400m world record and become the first man to run under 43 seconds for that distance. The record currently stands at 43.18.
***
Bolt's astronomical performances in the past two years have not been lost on the cynics. All over the globe, the question asked of me after, "What is it like to witness Bolt run live?" is occasionally, "How is that humanly possible without chemical help?" Through no fault of his own, Bolt's performances are sometimes looked at through dirty-urine-tinted glasses-Peter paying for Paul in this case, with Bolt being Peter and Paul being the ghosts of busted-sprint-greats past.
I defend all current track athletes from those sorts of aspersions, but with Bolt even more so. Why? For one thing, I can trace his rise to greatness quite clearly. And in my days as an athlete, I competed against most of the sprinters who turned up guilty of doping in the last decade. All had one thing in common: a seeming lack of real joy in competing. Bolt is the exact opposite.
On June 12 at the adidas Grand Prix, Usain St. Leo Bolt returns to the city and the event that launched him into superstardom. I will again be there in the broadcast booth to witness what promises to be an event to remember, and hopefully you will too. If you haven't already secured your tickets to see him live, it's close to too late. Almost certainly, Bolt will be spinning his 100m dash tune for all who are present.
I hope you dance.
Ato Boldon is a former World Champion and eight-time medalist at the World Championships and Olympic Games, and a former Senator in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He is currently the sprint analyst for ESPN, CBS and NBC Sports' coverage of track and field.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015