A roller-coaster journey
Rajeev K, Dec 30, 2016, DHNS
Usain Bolt led the parade of stars even as the Russian dope scandal cast a big shadow over the sport
As Usain Bolt knelt on the track and planted a farewell kiss on the finish line at the Olympic Stadium, the athletics world pondered the imponderable.
With that touching gesture, the colossus of track and field had closed a glorious chapter in his career while scripting the opening lines of the final part of a saga that had enthralled the fans the world over.
Across three Olympic Games starting with Beijing in 2008, Bolt had been the dominant figure, smashing world and Olympic records and performing unprecedented deeds – all in a fashion that endeared him to millions. At a time when his sport was passing through a major credibility crisis, the Jamaican held out strands of hope.
Fans clutched at them desperately, eager to believe that dope was not the only way.On that August night though, with another successful gold medal hunt that completed a triple-triple in Olympic Games, Bolt took his final bow from one of his favourite stages. One last season remained for the champion, with the World Championships in London next year set to mark the end of a spectacular and often awe-inspiring run.
In a season in which the Russian dope issue reached a flashpoint, leading to an Olympic ban for almost all track and field athletes from that nation, Bolt led a rescue mission at Rio, the high point of the athletics season. It wasn’t easy. A hamstring injury threatened to derail his quest for a historic triple but when the time came, the champion in him showed up, decimating his American rival Justin Gatlin in the 100 metres final and then easing to victory in the 200M against rising Canadian Andre De Grasse before applying the finishing touches with the 4x100M relay.
In the course of his final Olympic journey, Bolt embraced the truth that age was finally catching up with him. A world record in his favourite 200M was his goal but he was far away from it even though his aching muscles obliged him one more time.
“The older you get, the rougher it gets,” said Bolt, who turned 30 this year. As the year ended, he confirmed he would not run the 200M in his farewell season. “After this season, I kind of figured out that no matter how hard I work at this point, it probably is going to be hard to get the 200-metre world record,” he said.
As Bolt stepped into twilight zone, the younger generation stated their case to be counted among the greats. Wayde van Niekerk was at the forefront with an amazing world record in the 400M — the South African’s surge from lane eight culminating in a 43.03 seconds scorcher that erased Michael Johnson’s 43.18 from the books. Mo Farah was another big winner at Rio. His 5000-10000 double-double matched the feat of the great Finn Lasse Viren, winner of a similar double at the 1972 and 1976 Games. Providing a poignant footnote to the Games were the tears shed on the victory podium by French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie. The Frenchman was booed by the fans, upset about his comments on their behaviour the previous day, when they had cheered on their countryman Thiago Braz da Silva.
Despite a golden sprint double by Jamaican Elaine Thompson, Ethiopian Almaz Ayana was the female athlete of the year, thanks to her incredible run in the 10000M at Rio that nailed Wang Jungxia’s 13-year-old world record by 14 seconds. Inevitably, questions were raised about her performance – a sign of the times we live in, and also of the negativity that had enveloped the athletics world. But could anyone blame the fans after the doping scandal alleged the involvement of even the then president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Lamine Diack?
Ashton Eaton’s decathlon double and Shaunae Miller’s desperate dive to beat Allyson Felix in the 400 metres were the other enduring Rio vignettes while Caster Semenya’s dominant performance through the season triggered a thorny debate.
The conditional entry granted to the Russians for Rio meant it ruled out all but one of the selected athletes, including the pole vault great Yelena Isinbayeva. At 34, with no chance of competing in another Games, the Russian announced her retirement, ending a colourful career that included two Olympic and three World Championship gold medals.
World records fell in women’s hammer throw and 100M hurdles. Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland was a cut above everyone in the hammer throw ring while Kendra Harrison smashed the 28-year-old mark of Yardanka Donkova with a 12.20-second burst in the hurdles. Sadly she stumbled at a tougher hurdle, the American trials, and failed to make it to Rio, where her compatriots swept all the three medals, joining the big Bolt party.
With that touching gesture, the colossus of track and field had closed a glorious chapter in his career while scripting the opening lines of the final part of a saga that had enthralled the fans the world over.
Across three Olympic Games starting with Beijing in 2008, Bolt had been the dominant figure, smashing world and Olympic records and performing unprecedented deeds – all in a fashion that endeared him to millions. At a time when his sport was passing through a major credibility crisis, the Jamaican held out strands of hope.
Fans clutched at them desperately, eager to believe that dope was not the only way.On that August night though, with another successful gold medal hunt that completed a triple-triple in Olympic Games, Bolt took his final bow from one of his favourite stages. One last season remained for the champion, with the World Championships in London next year set to mark the end of a spectacular and often awe-inspiring run.
In a season in which the Russian dope issue reached a flashpoint, leading to an Olympic ban for almost all track and field athletes from that nation, Bolt led a rescue mission at Rio, the high point of the athletics season. It wasn’t easy. A hamstring injury threatened to derail his quest for a historic triple but when the time came, the champion in him showed up, decimating his American rival Justin Gatlin in the 100 metres final and then easing to victory in the 200M against rising Canadian Andre De Grasse before applying the finishing touches with the 4x100M relay.
In the course of his final Olympic journey, Bolt embraced the truth that age was finally catching up with him. A world record in his favourite 200M was his goal but he was far away from it even though his aching muscles obliged him one more time.
“The older you get, the rougher it gets,” said Bolt, who turned 30 this year. As the year ended, he confirmed he would not run the 200M in his farewell season. “After this season, I kind of figured out that no matter how hard I work at this point, it probably is going to be hard to get the 200-metre world record,” he said.
As Bolt stepped into twilight zone, the younger generation stated their case to be counted among the greats. Wayde van Niekerk was at the forefront with an amazing world record in the 400M — the South African’s surge from lane eight culminating in a 43.03 seconds scorcher that erased Michael Johnson’s 43.18 from the books. Mo Farah was another big winner at Rio. His 5000-10000 double-double matched the feat of the great Finn Lasse Viren, winner of a similar double at the 1972 and 1976 Games. Providing a poignant footnote to the Games were the tears shed on the victory podium by French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie. The Frenchman was booed by the fans, upset about his comments on their behaviour the previous day, when they had cheered on their countryman Thiago Braz da Silva.
Despite a golden sprint double by Jamaican Elaine Thompson, Ethiopian Almaz Ayana was the female athlete of the year, thanks to her incredible run in the 10000M at Rio that nailed Wang Jungxia’s 13-year-old world record by 14 seconds. Inevitably, questions were raised about her performance – a sign of the times we live in, and also of the negativity that had enveloped the athletics world. But could anyone blame the fans after the doping scandal alleged the involvement of even the then president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Lamine Diack?
Ashton Eaton’s decathlon double and Shaunae Miller’s desperate dive to beat Allyson Felix in the 400 metres were the other enduring Rio vignettes while Caster Semenya’s dominant performance through the season triggered a thorny debate.
The conditional entry granted to the Russians for Rio meant it ruled out all but one of the selected athletes, including the pole vault great Yelena Isinbayeva. At 34, with no chance of competing in another Games, the Russian announced her retirement, ending a colourful career that included two Olympic and three World Championship gold medals.
World records fell in women’s hammer throw and 100M hurdles. Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland was a cut above everyone in the hammer throw ring while Kendra Harrison smashed the 28-year-old mark of Yardanka Donkova with a 12.20-second burst in the hurdles. Sadly she stumbled at a tougher hurdle, the American trials, and failed to make it to Rio, where her compatriots swept all the three medals, joining the big Bolt party.
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