Bolt gets unscrewed by The Beast

The ‘fastest man in the world’, Usain Bolt, wasn’t the fastest man in Jamaica at the country’s Olympic trials.

That honour went to Yohan Blake, who jumped out of the blocks fast and finished the 100m final in 9.75 seconds to upset world-record holder Usain Bolt by 0.11 seconds in the Jamaican Olympic trials.

The result will shake up the consensus that Bolt will stroll to the Olympic title in London, just as he did in Beijing.

“Nine-point-seven-five – it’s awesome,” Blake said.

“I won the world championship, so I’ve got that.

“Now, I’m the national champion for Jamaica, so I’ve got that. And now, I go into the Olympics like this.”

Blake is the reigning world champion but Bolt didn’t run that night in South Korea after being disqualified for a false start.

This was their first rematch – their first real race since.

Bolt was considered the favourite, not only because of his world record – 9.58 seconds – but because Blake, his training partner had never run below 9.84 in his life.

Now he has. The 9.75 seconds goes down as the best time this year and also breaks the four-year-old National Stadium record; both marks were 9.76 – both held by Bolt.

Blake, the man known as “The Beast”, let out a scream when he crossed the line. Bolt pulled up – no “To the World” pose or anything else to celebrate.

As bad as that scene at the finish line must have looked, the start was even worse.

Always the toughest part of the race for the 1.93m defending Olympic champion, Bolt lumbered out of the blocks this time and had to make up heavy ground simply to get in the mix.

Afterwards, he said someone near the start line was bothering him, beginning with the semi-finals, where he also made a bad start.

“I had to ignore it,” Bolt said. “I had trouble getting out, but I kept feeling like I could not give up.”

Asafa Powell will join them at the Olympics, after finishing in 9.88.

In the women’s 100m, defending Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won in a Jamaican record 10.70 seconds, with Veronica Campbell-Brown in second and Kerron Stewart in third.

Campbell-Brown provided the surprise at last year’s trials when she finished fourth in the final and didn’t make the 100m field.

She ended up winning the 200 at trials and the Olympics and is very much in line for a double this time, as well.

“I don’t like to go back in the past,” Campbell-Brown said.

“I’m just thankful for what I have today. I got my spot in the 100m. I’m happy for that.”

As was Bolt, who knows there are four more weeks to go before the Olympics – plenty of time to get in shape to actually catch someone instead of avoiding being caught.

The man who coaches them both, Glen Mills, said Blake came into this race in far better shape than Bolt.

“We’re right where we want to be, going into London,” Mills said. “We just want to keep them healthy. That’s the key.”

But there are two more days of racing left. It starts on Saturday with heats in the 200, the race Bolt has always considered more his “job”, while the 100 is more like a hobby.

by Terence Johns

Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news directly in your email inbox.