Page 20 - ARUBA TODAY

A20 SPORTS
Monday 31 July 2017

Usain Bolt is down to his last, blazing curtain call

in a tunnel.
By EDDIE PELLS “And once you become
AP National Writer aware of what’s happen-
Muhammad Ali stood ing outside your tunnel,
alone on many fronts, but you’re in trouble,” he said.
Joe Frazier, George Fore- In boxing, Ali wasn’t neces-
man and a few others still sarily unbeatable, but he
stood toe-to-toe with him was incomparable as both
in the ring. Jack Nicklaus a sharp-witted showman
contended with Arnold and an athlete with a so-
Palmer on the front end of cial conscience, using his
his career and Tom Watson platform to preach toler-
on the back end. ance and oppose war.
Usain Bolt? Nobody has Bolt hasn’t sought that sort
been a match for him, on of impact, at least not yet,
or off the track. but it’s hard to overstate
The man who reshaped the the mark he made on his
record book and saved his troubled sport and, thus,
sport is saying goodbye. the Olympics, which have
His sprints through the 100 long featured athletics as
meters and Jamaica’s the must-see event of the
4x100 relay at the world final two weeks.
championships, which be- Over years and decades,
gin Friday, are expected to In this Aug. 18, 2016, file photo, Usain Bolt celebrates winning the gold medal in the men’s 200-me- the showcase sport of the
produce golds yet again, ter final during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium Olympics has devolved
and leave track with this in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. into a sordid litany of dop-
difficult question: Who can Since his era of dominance to London five years later, titles. Nicklaus had to fend ing scandals. The latest
possibly take his place? began in 2008, Bolt went un- Blake is an afterthought. off Palmer, Watson, Johnny concerns widespread cor-
“You would have to have defeated at the Olympics And Bolt’s mastery of this Miller and a dozen other le- ruption and cheating in
someone who’s dominat- — 9 for 9 — in the 100, 200 sport remains unchal- gitimate contenders at ev- Russia, and heading into
ing, and no one’s doing and 4x100 relay. (One of lenged. ery event. Bolt hasn’t faced Rio, it undermined not only
that,” said Michael John- those medals was stripped “I’ll be sad to see someone anything like that. the sport and its manag-
son, the former world- because of doping by a like him go,” said Amer- Yet they shared this impor- ers, but the Olympics and
record holder at 200 and teammate on the 2008 re- ica’s Justin Gatlin, Bolt’s tant similarity: Often, the their leaders’ willingness to
400 meters and perhaps lay team.) He has set, and longest and sturdiest chal- contests were over before deal with it.But when Bolt
the sport’s brightest star in re-set, the world records in lenger, who has been dis- they even began. Or, as sauntered onto the track,
the 1990s. “You’d have to all three events. His marks ingenuously portrayed as Tom Weiskopf once said: flashed a peace sign and
have someone who has of 19.30, then 19.19, at 200 the brooding bad boy set “Jack knew he was go- blew a kiss to the crowd,
that something special like meters, were once thought against Bolt’s carefree par- ing to beat you. You knew all was forgotten. Not just
he has, in terms of person- virtually impossible. He set ty guy. “He’s such a big fig- Jack was going to beat for the 9, or 19, seconds
ality and presence. You’re a goal of breaking 19 sec- ure in our sport. Not only is you. And Jack knew that while he was running, but
not going to have that.” onds in Rio de Janeiro last he a big figure, but the kind you knew that he was go- for the entire evening and
Though he will not retire un- summer, and when he of guy who always will be a ing to beat you.” beyond. He made track,
defeated, Bolt stands in the came up short, it became competitor when he steps At the worlds two years and thus, the Olympics,
rarest of company: an ath- clear the barrier will be safe onto the line.” ago, Gatlin had Bolt beat- eminently watchable.
lete who was never beat- for years. Though it’s tricky to com- en in the 100 but leaned in He’ll do it one more time on
en when the stakes were At the world champion- pare dominance in track at the finish line a microsec- a smaller stage — track’s
greatest. And with a show- ships, Bolt’s only “loss” to that in any other sport, ond too early. Bolt passed world championships —
man’s flair as transcendent came in 2011, when he there’s an element of Nick- him and won by 0.01 sec- but a stage with plenty of
as his raw speed — Chick- was disqualified for a false laus in Bolt’s dominance. onds. The American all but symbolic meaning.
en McNuggets for dinner, start in the 100 meters. Ja- Impressive as his 18 major admitted he psyched him- When he headed to Lon-
his fabled “To The World” maican teammate Yohan championships are, Nick- self out. don for the Olympics in
pose for dessert and danc- Blake won the title that laus’ 19 second-place fin- Speaking to the pressure 2012, Bolt held all the re-
ing away at nightclubs till year, as well as the Jamai- ishes and 73 top-10s spoke of racing someone such as cords, but was portrayed
dawn — he hoisted his en- can national champion- to his ability to get into the Bolt, the Scottish sports his- as vulnerable, following
tire, troubled sport upon ships at 100 and 200 me- mix in most of the majors torian and former Olympic the false start, a long list
his shoulders and made it ters leading to the London over the quarter-century coach Tom McNab com- of nagging injuries and his
watchable and relevant. Olympics. Heading back while he was collecting pared sprinting to running losses to Blake.q