Growing up in my house when it came to sports you routed for your host country’s team unless Jamaica was playing of course.
Nothing much has changed and as I wait for the men’s 100m and 200m races, I am rooting for Usain Bolt to win. Even if I weren’t Jamaican, I’d want Bolt to win. And looking around at comments on the Internet a lot of non-Jamaicans are rooting for The Lightening Bolt too.
What it means if Usain Bolt wins
If Bolt wins the 100m and 200m races, he will be the first man to successfully defend his Olympic titles on the track. No sprinter has retained his 200m Olympic crown, let alone repeated a hat-trick by also winning the 4x100m relay for a second consecutive time.
If Usain repeats his achievements from the Beijing Olympics, where he won three gold medals with lightning speed, his name will resonate through history alongside near-mythic sporting figures like Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Pele and Michael Phelps. So no pressure on Bolt but he needs to do this.
This will be a great personal achievement for Bolt but it would be even more amazing if he beats his record of 9.58 in the 100m or 19.19 in the 200m. How amazing would that be?
Team Jamaica has another sprinter who has a chance for gold in the 100m and 200m races, Yohan Blake. Blake beat Bolt in both races in the Jamaica trials in June. In the 2011 world championships in South Korea, Bolt was disqualified from the 100m due to a false start and Blake went on to win for Jamaica.
In May this year, Usain was criticised by Jamaicans for having a white girlfriend, shortly after Bolt ended the relationship saying he was focusing on the Olympics.
Usain has taken some hard knocks this past year. From a country perspective, we should be a shoo-in for Gold and Silver but from a personal perspective, I want Bolt to win dis ting!
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