JUST as Jamaica’s ‘Golden Boy’ Usain Bolt stunned the world audience with his phenomenal sprinting prowess in 2008 and 2009, the triple Olympics and World athletics champion, performed a similar flip-side feat on Sunday,  the second day of the 13th World Athletics Championships being staged in Daegu, Korea.
While the whole world shared and even celebrated his amazing and historical world records with his own unique theatrics and celebratory antics on those tumultuous occasions, they were all a distant memory as he walked away from the starting line and track a shocked man. The amazing Bolt committed the sprinter’s cardinal sin and paid the ultimate price which left the global audience and those at the Stadium in a state of shock and silence beyond comprehension.
Although there are many skeptics about his super-human performances, millions of admirers were expecting a repeat of his 2009 Berlin heroics with a commanding victory in the premier race of any athletics meet.
As defending champion and reigning world record holder, Bolt was not only favoured to retain his world crown but also to put on a sizzling show of power sprinting and his season’s best time as he reigns supreme over his rivals for another two-year period.
However, the 25-year-old false-started and was dumped from the grand final which was won by his clubmate and countryman Yohan Blake who produced his season’s personal best with a 9.92 secs clocking and was the only finalist to dip under the sub-10-secs barrier.
America’s Walter Dix collected the silver and his acceleration and momentum phases were well executed as he pipped Kittitian Kim Collins who displayed astonishing speed out of the blocks and down the straightway at age 35.
Apart from Bolt’s false start that left everyone dumbfounded and many would have been disappointed in seeing another super race from the likeable Jamaican, there will also be heated debate about his training partner Blake winning the global title after a light sentence from his country’s Athletics Association Disciplinary committee after he was tested positive for a banned stimulant last year.
Blake received a three-month suspension from athletics, which normally would have carried a two-year ban from the IAAF for such an infringement of the rules governing the sport.
IAAF officials must also take blame for his situation as they should make it mandatory for all national athletics association to follow the IAAF and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) guidelines in relation to prohibitive drugs and guilty parties.
For Usain to bolt out the blocks before the starter’s gun going off to signal the start of the race, he must take full blame for the infringement. It is sad but the rules and regulations must be followed and administered appropriately. There cannot be one rule for all athletes and another special consideration for ‘special athletes’ or ‘star performers’.
We cannot have an ‘Animal Farm’ moment at any level of competition especially on the world stage when millions are viewing the action and getting a close-up revelation of all the stages of races or events as they unfold. It will cause chaos and confusion should the other athletes seek to protest such a ruling.
It was indeed unfortunate for Bolt to react before the starter fired his pistol. His reaction would activate or trigger the start of the electronic timing device on the sensor pads of the starting block which will prompt the starter or the recallers to immediately be able to identify the guilty athlete.
The new rule clearly states that: “An Athlete, after assuming a full and final set position, shall not commence his start until after receiving the report of the gun. If, in the judgment of the starter or recallers, he does so earlier, it shall be deemed a false start. Except in Combined events, any athlete responsible for a false start shall be disqualified.”
IAAF needs to re-visit ‘One False start rule’
The new rules were introduced during the 2010 season. Prior to that, athletes were allowed one false start before being disqualified for the second time should the infringement occurs.
The one false start rule is definitely draconian and needs to be re-visited. It is very harsh on these hyper athletes who only need to push hard against the blocks to trigger the electronic timing device. They are under too much stress to concentrate on the starter’s gun and also to breathe properly before they explode from the blocks in their quest for glory.
One slight mistake and everything is over in a flash. All the hard work and dedication by some many persons associated with these world class athletes will become nothing and everyone will be devastated, as was in this case with Bolt and his connections.
Millions worldwide are also distraught and remains in shock to see the greatest sprinter of all time penalised in such a manner and not being able to put on a show and successfully defend his world sprint title.
On the race itself, it was the younger athlete who produced a brilliant run to claim his first global title while the oldest finalists, especially Collins, among the lot proved that there is no constraint and difference in age to achieve your ultimate goals.
Blake registered the fastest time in the three semi-final races which allowed the top two finishers and next two fastest to advance to the final. The 25-year-old Jamaican clocked 9.95 secs when he sped home ahead of Dix (10.05), Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut (10.10), Antigua & Barbuda’s Daniel Bailey (10.14) and Trinidad and Tobago’s CAC sprint champion Keston Bledman (10.14).
Great Britain’s Dwain Chambers was disqualified in the first semi for a false start. It was he who started the false-start drama earlier in the day before Bolt attempted to get a flyer in an attempt to set another world record.
However, Bolt did not achieve his cherished dream but his disqualification in the final sets up a new world record of becoming the first premier athlete and reigning world record holder to be penalised with the controversial one false start rule in a global final.
Bolt’s reaction time in Heat 2 was 0.164 and he easily secured his place in the grand finale with France’s European champion Christophe Lemaitre (0.140) second with 10.11 secs while T&T’s Richard Thompson (with the slowest reaction time of 0.206) third in 10.20 secs.
Thompson’s performance can be termed a disappointment or as I had mentioned in my World Athletics Championships preview in the previous Sunday Chronicle, either the Beijing Olympics silver-medallist peaked at T&T’s NAAA’s Senior Championships with a 9.85 secs, the fastest among those listed to participate in Korea preliminaries; or that the newest synthetic track laid down at the Hasely Crawford Stadium is one of the fastest in the world.
There could be another consideration that the timing device at the T&T’s Seniors was faulty.
No one will ever know but the 26-year-old Thompson did not achieve those lofty times again and was unable to register other sub-10-secsat Daegu.
On the other hand, Collins (0.161, veteran sprinter and 2003 World Champion) made no mistake and propelled to the finish line in 10.08 secs while Jamaica’s Nesta Carter (0.169) clocked 10.16 for second spot and last qualifying spot among the eight designated lanes.
While Bolt’s disqualification has re-ignited new discussion and debate worldwide, IAAF officials will have to re-visit that draconian ‘one false start’ rule and revert to the previous one which allows some liberty for flexibility and the opportunity to allow the athletes a second chance, which is a fairer rule and would eliminate the prospect of seeing a repeat at the London Olympics next year.
Meanwhile, both Blake and Collins have made Caribbean people proud again with their gold and bronze medal. The Americans had to settle for silver for yet another occasion since Beijing Olympics.
For his 100-metre golden performance, Blake not only kept the Jamaican flag flying highest in the sprint kingdom but also placed his name indelibly into the record books as the youngest senior world champion ever.
At age 21 years and 244 days; Blake, who hails from St James Parish in Jamaica; eclipsed America’s Carl Lewis who at age 22 years and 38 days won the inaugural 2003 World Athletics Championships 100-metre gold in Helsinki.
As a junior, Blake won bronze at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing and also featured in Jamaica’s sprint relay gold.
Coached by Bolt’s coach Glen Mills, Blake established a world record as the youngest to break into the elite sub-ten-second club at the Golden Gala meet in Rome when he clocked 9.96 secs in 2009.
And then he accomplished his career best of 9.89 secs in London during the 2010 season. His astonishing times raised eyebrows and sent a strong signal to his senior counterparts that here is a rising star ready to take on the world’s best sprinters and vie for the ultimate world sprint crown.
Blake’s world title is bitter-sweet for Jamaicans who were hoping and expecting that their ‘superstar’ Usain to win gold again and in style. But Yohan blanked his mind of Usain’s dilemma and focused on his own race which he won in fine style.
The young Jamaican  will now be hailed as the world’s newest rising star.