storm & lightning

Storm & lightning dazzled the Olympics, that's what Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt did, re-writing records and bringing excitement to a historic Beijing Olympics.

MICHAEL PHELPS, the human fish, won eight gold medals and surpassed Mark Spitz's Munich 1972 Olympic Games effort of seven gold medals at a single summer Olympic Games.

Records :

Men's 400m Individual Medley, world record 4:03.84

4 x 100m Freestyle Relay, world record 3:08.24

Men's 200m Freestyle, world record 1:42.96.

Men's 200m Butterfly,world record 1:52.03

Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay, world record 6:58.56

Men's 200m Individual Medley,world record 1:54.23

Men's 100m Butterfly provided Phelps with his tightest race. Phelps dug deep to touch out Milorad Cavic of Serbia on the wall by 0.01 seconds to keep his 8 goals dream alive. He broke Olympic record at 50.58.

Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay, world record 3:29.34

USAIN BOLT of Jamaica, flashes by like a lightning strike. Bolt arrived at the Games having lowered the 100m world record to 9.72 in May. He did not disappoint, winning the 100m in astonishing world record of 9.69 s.

Bolt went on to win the 200m in 19.30 s, it broke Michael Johnson's previous world record and Olympic record of 19.32 s.

Lightning strikes not twice but thrice as Jaimaca won the Men's 4 x 100m Relay. The team, featuring Bolt on the third leg and former world-record holder Asafa Powell on the anchor, raced home with a new world record of 37.10.










In the Olympic 100 m final, Bolt was well ahead of second-place finisher Richard Thompson, who finished in 9.89 s. Not only was the record set without a favourable wind, but he also visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished and his shoelace was untied. It was analysed that based upon the speed of Bolt's opening 60 m, he could have finished with a time of 9.52 s had he not slowed to celebrate.

Bolt was criticised for his chest slapping before the finish line as showboating, but I thought it was just his exuberant personality that took over and entertained the crowd. Looking at the vast distance between him and the 2nd placed sprinter, how else could Bolt has felt at that split moment other then ecstasy?

Unlike in the 100 m final, Bolt pressed all the way to the finishing line in the 200 m race, even dipping his chest to improve his time. Following the race, "Happy Birthday" was played over the stadium's sound system as his 22nd birthday would begin at midnight on 21 August.

Oh, and I love the golden Puma spikes that Bolt wore during the 100m race. Bling Bling :)