On Top of the World

An Olympic story that inspired so many, we look back at the story of Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt and his incredible streak in the Olympics.

He went to Beijing as a silent competitor from Jamaica, very humble. He made no early remarks regarding his Olympic goals, but in the end he made it clear that he wanted to be on top.

In his first finals match, the Men’s 100m sprint, he not only won a gold medal but set a new World record at 9.69 seconds. Even before the Olympics, Usain Bolt has already set records. In 2004, he broke former U.S. star Lorenzo Daniel’s world junior 200m record, finishing in 19.93 seconds to become the first junior to break the 20-second mark.

But as people would say, all positives have something negative in them. This Jamaican athlete is highly criticized for having to be a “show-off” in the 100m Men’s Sprint, as he slowed down when he was near the finish line. To other people that meant, “no one can beat me” or “catch me as you can”. He was also criticized for not having to show respect to the other competitors, not even a single “congratulations”. Usain instead wrapped himself with the Jamaican flag and made a victory run towards his family who were in the audience.

But 200m sprint Silver medalist Shawn Crawford of the United States, whose gold medal bid was taken away by Usain, made a remark on Bolt’s so-called “arrogance”. Saying that he trained for four years straight, and that he even made a lot of sacrifices. “So if he wants to feel like he’s on top of the world, let him. Because he really is on top of the world.”, Crawford adds.