SPRINTING

World wonders about Bolt's successors

ATHLETICS-WORLD/M100 Usain Bolt | Reuters

When Usain Bolt comes out of the Olympic Park tunnel, looking heavenwards, as the crowds go berserk, thousands and thousands of smartphones clicking away mercilessly, cameras searching for that moment, that angle, that farewell picture that can capture the going away of a mega star, of a man who not only redefined sprinting but also ensured that the number of people who beat him can actually be counted on the finger-tips of one hand.

We talk of his successor as Bolt the Emperor walks away from the throne – possibly unbeaten in that 100M final on August 5th. In the last four World Championships, he has won three 100M golds; in 2011, he was disqualified for a false start. Heading into his final World Championship, Usain Bolt is the favorite once again in the 100 and the 4X100M relay. He will not be competing for the 200M in London.

Amidst, the farewell party, hype, the building up of the larger than life picture (in fact, he is one); there are whispers that Bolt for the first time could be dethroned. The last time he was beaten in a major championship (Olympic or World) was in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The Jamaican ran in the 200M heats and didn’t qualify!!

Canada would be eagerly watching the 100M final aware of the fact that their man Andre De Grasse might pip the Big Man. Grasse had finished with silver in the 200M at the Rio Olympics. Even Bolt had once said that the Canadian would replace him. But things have soured between both the athletes. Especially after De Grasse said he would ensure that Bolt didn’t win his last race.

Great Britain’s CJ Ujah says there are weaknesses in the Great Man. There is no doubt that the Jamaican has struggled for speed this season. And the death of his friend and British high jumper Germaine Mason, who died in a motorbike accident after a night out with Bolt, has taken a huge emotional toll. Ujah feels that anybody who can rise to the occasion, run a sub 10, around 9.8 can beat Bolt in the final ten metres of the race. “If I can make it to the final, maybe, I can push him too,” says Ujah.

Nobody in Jamaica would want to see him beaten. But if it comes down to that, they would prefer someone closer to home and ‘The Beast’ Yohan Blake, silver in the 100M and 200M at the London Olympics, would be the pick. He is the only man between 2008 up till now to win a World 100M gold but that was in 2011 when Bolt was disqualified.

But we haven’t forgotten the fastest man this year and it’s none of the above. Chris Coleman ran a 9.82 in June. It’s the best timing, better than Blake’s 9.90. And this year alone Coleman has gone below 10 sec at least six times. In an interview before the World Championships, Coleman said, “It would be crazy to beat Bolt. It would open the door for a lot of people to see me, who have never even heard of me before because I've never run on the pro circuit.”

For those who will fill up the Olympic Park on Saturday night to watch, for one last time, the Big Man race, it’s his winning they would applaud, cheer and watch him do a lap of the stadium. For all those inside the stadium and the millions across the globe watching, the successors to Usain Bolt can wait.

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Topics : #Usain Bolt

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