Bolt's Olympics twice as nice

BEIJING — First a Bolt, then a jolt. Then another.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who four days earlier cruised to a world record in the 100-meter dash, added an exclamation point to the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday by breaking Michael Johnson's 12-year-old world record in the 200-meter dash.

Bolt, running with such purpose that he leaned at the finish even though no one was near him, was timed in 19.30, surpassing by .02 seconds a record that Johnson earlier in the day had predicted would not be broken at the Bird's Nest.

If Johnson was surprised by the drama, he hardly was alone.

Start by saying that two Americans, Shawn Crawford and Florida State's Walter Dix, will go down as the silver and bronze medalists, respectively.

They were awarded medals after the original second- and third-place finishers, Churandy Martina and Wallace Spearmon, were disqualified for stepping on the lane lines.

Bolt aged a year before the results were made official after a long delay.

"I blew my mind and I blew the world's mind," Bolt said at a news conference that began after midnight, meaning his 22nd birthday had arrived.

Bolt became the first to win the 100-200 double at the Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984. Bolt also is the first man to set world records in both events at the same Olympics.

Although Bolt could celebrate, the same couldn't be said for Martina of the Netherlands Antilles and Spearmon of the United States, who with Bolt crossed the finish line 1-2-3 but were later DQ'd. A series of protests dragged on for two hours, so thousands of fans left the stadium thinking one group of men were medalists when in fact they were not.

The one clear thing was Bolt, the 6-foot-5 phenom who firmly believes showtime is now, whenever "now" happens to be. The way he was on the track was the way he was in his news conference, bopping to imaginary music between questions.

After he watched a replay of his race, he was asked what he thought.

"I look cool," Bolt said. "I was looking at myself like, 'That guy's fast.' "

He said the 200-meter race was his more important victory.

"I've been dreaming about it since I was yea high," he said. "It means a lot more to me than the 100 meters."

It means something back in Jamaica, which hasn't stopped partying since track and field began at these Olympics.

"I talked to the prime minister," Bolt said. "He told me that every street is blocked off. It means a lot to me. I've written history, pretty much."

He did it on a bizarre night that lacked only Bela Karolyi and some gymnastics judges for drama. Bolt was his usual self, dancing before the race and dancing up a storm, barefoot, on his victory lap. But that lap provided a surreal scene, because Spearmon was dancing with him and posing with his American flag before every camera in sight.

Only the few who happened to glance at the scoreboard at the right moment — it was alternating between events and languages — knew there was a dreaded "DQ" next to Spearmon's name. Spearmon, in fact, was only 50 meters away from making a complete victory lap before anyone told him he had nothing to celebrate.

"Huh? Me?" he could be seen telling an official before his expression changed, he folded his flag and looked to the scoreboard.

Then things turned weird.

When Martina passed through the "mixed zone" area where athletes file off the track and are interviewed by the media, he was asked about an inquiry into whether he, too, stepped on the line.

"They would tell me already," Martina nonchalantly said. "Like they told Spearmon right away. So I'm not worried about that. I'm coming for my medal tomorrow."

No point. He's not getting one.

Crawford was next through the mixed zone. Someone asked him about the "whole situation" and how strange it was. Problem was, there were so many strange situations, Crawford asked reporters which they wanted to go over first.

When he was informed the Americans were lodging a protest against Martina, Crawford was flabbergasted.

"Oh, lord," Crawford said. "So, they say Wallace Spearmon stepped out. The second-place guy stepped out. Well, hopefully Usain stepped out, too!"

That was not the case. On the top step of the medals ceremony will be Bolt, whom Johnson watched Wednesday while broadcasting for the BBC.

"He's Superman 2," Johnson said.

Having gotten a close-up look at Bolt's "Dancing With The Stars" audition, former hurdling great Renaldo Nehemiah said, "He's having a good time, which our sport sorely needs."

Crawford agreed.

"He put on a show," he said. "I feel him and athletics (track and field) is like Michael Phelps and swimming."

Bolt isn't into comparisons, whether it's to Johnson or Phelps.

"I don't compare myself to Michael Phelps," Bolt said. "He swims. He's a great athlete. To win eight gold medals, that's great. I'm on a track. He's in the water. You can't really compare."

Wednesday, both the night and the man who owned it were beyond comparison.

Hal Habib writes for The Palm Beach Post.