Lightning Strikes Twice: Bolt Repeats As 100m Champion

On Sunday, Usain Bolt confirmed that he is the fastest, and probably the baddest, man on the planet. His 9.63 in the 100 meters, a race that featured him finally sprinting (almost) as fast as he can, was definitely the thrill of the athletics portion of the 2012 Olympics so far, and might have gone down as the moment of these Games had NBC not held the broadcast of the final until after 11 p.m. ET.

But, in a rare moment of broadcasting savvy from NBC, the network showed the intros for the entire lineup of finalists in the 100 meters, collectively the eight fastest human beings currently breathing, in the calm before the sprint. All but one of them would go on to break 10 seconds in the race (and Asafa Powell likely only didn’t because he pulled up, injured), making it one of the fastest collective races in history.

So Usain Bolt, perhaps the most delightfully -- and justifiably -- cocky athlete at the Summer Olympics, decimated his competition ... but did he have the most dominant performance of the weekend? Or the most talked about victory celebration? Yeah, it was that kind of weekend. Let’s get into the Monday Morning Jones.

Is Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian of all-time? I don’t know. Neither do you or anyone who claims to. It’s hard enough to figure out who’s the greatest football player of all-time, given all the different specialized positions, but somehow we’re supposed to compare Phelps to Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Alexander Karelin, Téofilo Stevenson or Jackie Joyner-Kersee? Yes, Phelps has more medals than anyone in history. He also participates in a sport where competing in so many events -- and starting one’s Olympic career at 15 -- is possible, which few non-swimmers can say.

But here’s the best part -- it doesn’t matter if Phelps is the greatest. All that matters is, for three Olympiads, he dominated. He demonstrated a strength, versatility and resilience few will ever forget. And after Phelps’ victory lap in London started off looking like it could taint his legacy, he recovered and fortified his resumé with four more gold medals. Without question, he’s the greatest swimmer who ever lived. Adding hyperbole to his already unbelievable feats misses the point. We’ll never forget him. There’s no need to overthink that, because nothing else really matters.

This is one of those moments that may seem small, but means a whole lot more. Oscar Pistorius is well-known by now, for the blades he runs on, for his perseverance and, unfortunately, for the controversy that’s followed him. He didn’t make the 400 meter finals, though he did get all the way to the semis. But immediately following the race, Kirani James did something very cool.

James has a legitimate shot at gold in the 400. He’s fast, and one hell of an athlete. If he doesn’t have a problem with Pistorius, then why should anyone?

Well this is some great camerawork. It’s also a great time to ridicule the moron who, just seconds before the gun went off to begin the men’s 100m finals, threw a bottle onto the track in the direction of Usain Bolt.

To set the scene, the eight finalists were in the blocks and the stadium had gone quiet. All eyes were on the starting line as Bolt and the rest of his incredibly speedy competitors got set to fly down the track in less than 10 seconds. And one idiot decided he wanted to be completely stupid.

Usain Bolt cut off an interviewer following his blistering performance in the 100m finals on Sunday, but it was for a good reason. You see, Bolt was aware of his surroundings and realized there was a medal ceremony going on. The interviewer didn’t recognize the song in the background, so Bolt politely stopped the interview, told her Sanya Richards-Ross was receiving her gold, and stood respectfully as the Star Spangled Banner played.

Pretty awesome to see that Bolt didn’t want to take away from someone else’s moment, even if he likely wouldn’t have impacted anything by simply doing an interview. On the track, he’s brash, even cocky, and ever a showman. But off it ... well, he seems pretty nice.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are making all the right moves, at least when it comes to how they’ve handled the Olympics. By now you probably know that Jags corner Aaron Ross is the husband of US Olympian Sanya Richards-Ross, a world-class track athlete. Aaron Ross is in London to watch her compete, and the Jags allowed him to take some time off, away from training camp, to be at the Olympics in person.

And on Sunday, as Richards-Ross ran for gold, the Jags set up a pretty cool event.

Yohan Blake beat Usain Bolt in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Jamaican Olympic trials, won the 2011 world championship in the 100m — a race in which Bolt did not participate — and was viewed as the reason Bolt wasn’t a runaway favorite to repeat his stunning feat from the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Blake ran the race of his life Sunday night in London, but it wasn’t enough. Bolt lowered his Olympic record to 9.63 seconds, and Blake finished in second place, securing a silver medal in his first career Olympic final in 9.75 seconds, among the fastest times ever recorded. He beat American Justin Gatlin by .04 seconds, sharing the medal stand with Bolt, his friend and training partner. The two hugged after the race as they ran around Olympic stadium wearing the black, green and yellow Jamaican flags.

On Sunday, Usain Bolt proved once again, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is the fastest man alive. The Jamaican sprinter took home the gold medal in the men’s 100m final for the second straight Olympics.

Bolt actually got out to a slow start off the blocks. Early speculation was that Bolt was worried about being disqualified due to a false start. Bolt, via Reuters, confirmed as much after the race was done.

It’s not easy being Tyson Gay. The American sprinter is one of two people ever to record a 100-meter dash under 9.7 seconds without wind assistance, is by all accounts a spectacularly nice person, yet can’t climb from under the shadow of the other guy to run below a 9.7, Usain Bolt.

Bolt, of course, won gold again in the hundred-meter dash, and his training partner and countryman Yohan Blake took the silver. Blake was expected to medal — after all, he had defeated Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic trials — and Gay, who didn’t make the Olympic finals in Beijing due to injury, was also expected to be in the mix.

On Sunday, the 2012 Olympics witnessed one of the main events of track and field as the men’s 100m final was held in London. In the end, Usain Bolt overcame what at first appeared to be a slow start to run away with the gold and set a new Olympic record of 9.63 seconds. It was the most thrilling 9.63 seconds in recent memory.

Fellow Jamaican runner Yohan Blake captured the silver with a time of 9.75. Although lead U.S. runner Tyson Gay’s time of 9.80 was not good enough to warrant a trip to the podium, the United States did not miss out on a medal altogether. Justin Gatlin, from Brooklyn, will bring home the bronze medal after placing third at 9.79 seconds.

The United States women had a fantastic showing on Sunday in the final of the 400m, taking home the gold and the bronze. Sanya Richards-Ross overtook the rest of the field with less than 100 meters to go and captured the first track and field gold medal for Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Richards-Ross, who is married to Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Aaron Ross, edged out Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain with a time of 49.55 seconds. Fellow U.S. runner DeeDee Trotter was leading before being overtaken in the home stretch, finished in third place to give the United States another medal to add to their total.

We’ve seen the video of Usain Bolt’s 100m win. We’ve watched the GIFs of Bolt doing his thing. And now it’s time to check out the still shots.

There’s something about the way photography wonderfully captures moments. Sure, we can watch things in motion in a variety of way, but stills -- the freeze frame -- adds even more detail. And with hundreds of cameras trained on Bolt and the track for the 100m race, there were some superb shots.

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↵via John David Mercer / USA Today

Day 9 at the 2012 Summer Olympics also marked the third day of track and field in London, with six medals decided at Olympic Stadium.

The night session was highlighted by Sanya Richards-Ross’s win in the women’s 400m -- Team USA’s first gold in track and field at the Games -- and Usain Bolt’s unbelievable performance in the 100 meters as he defended his title of The Fastest Man on Earth.

Perhaps the most anticipated race of the 2012 Olympics lived up to its billing and then some. Usain Bolt raced down the field from behind and easily pulled away. It was an absolute sight to behold, and something that left everyone with their jaws on the floor, uttering words of excitement and amazement.

So let’s just keep reliving the race over and over. You can watch the video of Bolt’s win, if that’s your thing. Or you can watch GIFs, because GIFs are great.

It’s Usain Bolt’s world and everyone else is living in it. Once again, Bolt blew through the field and took home gold at the Olympics, finishing the 100m finals in a time of 9.63. After questions about whether Bolt was ready -- prompted by Yohan Blake’s win at the Jamaican trials -- the world record holder reminded everyone who’s the boss.

And the funny thing about it is that Bolt didn’t even get off to a great start. He was slow out of the blocks, lagging a bit behind and everyone hit their stride. And then he decided it was just time to go.

The title of The Fastest Man on Earth once again belongs to Jamaica’s Usain Bolt.

The Lightning Bolt won gold in the men’s 100 meters dash Sunday night at the Summer Olympics, defending his title from Beijing and establishing himself as one of the greatest sprinting athletes the world has ever seen. Bolt crossed the finish line in 9.63 seconds, 0.06 seconds faster than what he ran in 2008, which set a new Olympic record.

The signature event of the Olympics will take place Sunday afternoon as Jamaica’s Usain Bolt looks to defend his gold medal in the men’s 100m finals in track and field. Bolt will try to hold off three Americans and fellow Jamaicans Usafa Powell and Yohan Blake, who defeated the world-record holder in both the 100m and 200m races during their country’s Olympic trials. But Bolt looked like his old “fastest man on earth” self in the semifinals, putting it in cruise control over the final 20 meters and showboating his way across the line.

The semifinals featured seven times under 10 seconds, creating a buzz in the stadium in advance of the finals. American Justin Gatlin posted the fastest time, a 9.82 in the first heat. That’s the fastest Olympic time since Bolt ran a 9.69 four years ago in Beijing. In addition to Gatlin, American Tyson Gay looked impressive in the third heat with a 9.90 -- just behind Blake, who crossed in 9.85.

The signature event of the 2012 London Olympics is now set with the Men’s 100m semifinals completed. Usain Bolt moved through to the finals with a time of 9.87 seconds. The defending Olympic champion and world record holder went off in heat two in lane four and blew away the field in the second semi. He didn’t even get off to the best of starts, but still put the brakes on and put it into cruise control over the final 20 meters.

Bolt has had a tumultuous stretch between Beijing and London, from blazing a new world record in Berlin to taking some heat off the track for his partying ways to being beat out by countryman Yohan Blake during Jamaican trials. But he once again looked like the fastest man on earth with his performance in the semifinals.

Tiki Gelana won the most tightly-contested marathon in Olympics history, beating Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo by only five seconds in an Olympic-record time of 2:23.07.

It’s not surprising that Ethiopia won the women’s marathon, but some of the numbers behind the victory are impressive. Gelana, who won the 2011 Amsterdam Marathon, ran the fastest marathon in Olympic history on Sunday. She won her race with a smaller margin of victory than any race in Olympic history and absolutely jetted to the finish. Gelana’s split from the 35 to 40 kilometer marks was 16:41 -- that’s a 5:22/mile pace -- and then she pushed her pace even faster, running the race’s final 2.2 kilometers in 6:57. Gelana didn’t lead the whole way -- she was in second as late as the 35-minute mark -- but her late speed earned her the gold.

Today, we find out who gets to hold the title of the world’s fastest man, as the men’s 100m final will be held in London. Will it be Usain Bolt, following up on his spectacular Beijing Olympics, or Yohan Blake, who handled him in the Jamaican Olympic trials? Or, perhaps, someone else, such as the American Tyson Gay or perhaps Bolt and Blake’s fellow Jamaican, Asafa Powell.

That’s not all: Sunday’s track and field schedule features everything from the 100-meter race to the 26.2-mile marathon, with a little hammer-throwing in between. All events will be available for streaming live from the NBCOlympics official website, and some events will be tape-delayed to primetime on NBC.