Jamaica's Usain Bolt holds the Jamaican flag as he celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 100-meter final during the athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, on Aug. 16, 2008.
By William Doyle-Marshall
Like a lightning bolt 21-year-old Usain Bolt of Jamaica convincingly established a new Olympic record time of 9.69 for the 100 metres last Saturday at the Beijing Olympic. In second spot was his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart Richard Thompson with a run of 9.89 seconds. Walter Dix of the U.S. was third with 9.91.
"It's a wonderful day for Jamaica. It was a stunning performance and we're so proud of you," Prime Minister Bruce Golding told Bolt by telephone. Golding promised a massive welcome home for Bolt and the Jamaica contingent. If the Olympic medal rush continues, there is talk of a national day in celebration of the achievement
During an interview in Beijing Bolt said this year he has been great and doing well, running a lot of good times. Having done a lot of work preparing for the occasion, he was pretty happy with himself being at the Beijing Olympics.
About breaking the world record 100 metres, he thought he was just getting back the work that he put into his training. At first, Bolt said he was a little surprised because he knew he had the potential to do well. “I have been working hard this season because this is Olympic year.”
In Beijing where he ran the one and 200 metre races Bolt said he decided to enter both events at the Olympics because he has been doing good in both so far and he is in good condition. However the 200 metres is his favourite distance. But he was confident about being able to win gold medals in both races. “I am doing good over 200 metres. I am pretty much the best over 200 metres this year and in 100 I am the fastest man in the world,” he said proudly.
Dick Patrick writing in U.S.A. Today described Bolt as an old hand at setting astonishing world records.
“Over the years I have pretty much worked so hard over the 200 metres. I have been doing this pretty much all my life. Since I started track and field I have been doing the 200 so I love it. I have worked so hard to become so good at it and I am now pretty much one of the best in the world,” Bolt emphasized.
As he looked forward to the sprint Bolt anxiously anticipated the occasion to compete against teammate Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay of the U.S. He theorized, "if you are going to become Olympic champion you want to compete with the best and those two guys are the best". Bolt predicted, "it should be fast and it should be good".
Despite being sprinting rivals, Bolt admitted that he and Powell are teammates and they have fun in training camp. “We mess around and we laugh but we know that on the day when the Olympics start, it is all about business really. So when we go out there we are not really friends. We are rivals. That’s how we are going to treat it. We are going out there and maybe behave like we are animals but we are going out there to compete and to become Olympic gold medalists so we are going out there to run our hearts out to win.”
According to the Jamaican Chef de Mission Don Anderson, the Olympic drug testers carried out 32 tests on the Jamaican athletes since they arrived in Beijing. Naturally, this level of scrutiny of the athletes caused some unhappiness.
Before followers of the meet could digest Bolt’s victory they were treated to another record breaking run by three young Jamaican women also in the 100 metres dash. Shelley Anne Fraser with a 10.78 sprint earned the gold medal. Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart in a dead heat finish clocking 10.98 won silver medals.
Jamaican-Canadian Patrick Hunter has been following the games as closely as he could was pleased with the outcome. “I am very proud that finally they have done what other Jamaicans under other flags have done,” he told Indo Caribbean World. While other great Jamaican sprinters such as Linford Christie and Donovan Bailey won gold for Great Britain in 1992 and Canada four years later respectively, Bolt is the first Jamaican, to wear his country’s colours as he triumphed at the Olympics Saturday in what is considered the greatest race of the event. He returns home as the King of the Games with the gold medal in his possession.
Looking forward to the outcome of the relay events – men and women, Hunter said it is good to see participants from other Caribbean nations at the games. “That tells me if we had the resources to harness some of the home grown talent we could put together a really big show,” Hunter said. He noted that for every one of those performers in Beijing, there are a couple who never make it to that level due to improper training.
Bolt easily qualified with a 20.29 run for the men’s 200 metre final. Shawn Crawford, Walter Dix and Wallace Spearmon all of the USA along with Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis also qualified to meet in the final.
Bridgitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica qualified with a run of 12.76 seconds for the women's 100 hurdles final along with three Americans. Lolo Jones won her heat in 12.43; Damu Cherry won the second semi-final in 12.62, with Dawn Harper running her qualifier in 12.66 second.
Early medal counts saw Jamaica with two gold and two silver; Cuba, eleven medals with one gold, three silver and seven bronze; Trinidad and Tobago earned one silver. Kenya’s seven medals included two gold, three silver and two bronze while India, Panama and the Cameroon had one gold each. Following an early drought Canada now has a total of twelve - two gold, six silver and four bronze and anticipates to continue the haul.
Islamabad, (IANS) — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Monday finally bowed out of office to avoid impeachment, triggering celebrations in a country he ruled for almost nine long years before an avalanche of democracy brought his career to an ignominious end.
Musharraf, 65, announced in a nationally televised speech that he was resigning as president in "the best interest of the country". He did not say if he planned to remain in Pakistan or go abroad - amid speculation that he might settle down in Saudi Arabia or Turkey. By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad, (IANS) — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Monday finally bowed out of office to avoid impeachment, triggering celebrations in a country he ruled for almost nine long years before an avalanche of democracy brought his career to an ignominious end.
Musharraf, 65, announced in a nationally televised speech that he was resigning as president in "the best interest of the country". He did not say if he planned to remain in Pakistan or go abroad - amid speculation that he might settle down in Saudi Arabia or Turkey. Faced with a litany of charges including murder, a visibly subdued Musharraf said he wanted to avoid facing an impeachment that Pakistan's ruling coalition was planning to bring against him.
"It is not a time of individual bravado," he said in an emotional address delivered in Urdu. "Whether I win or lose the impeachment, this country will be defeated."
Musharraf, who as the army chief seized power in October 1999 in a bloodless coup ousting the government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif, ruled the world's second most populous Islamic nation for eight years, 10 months and six days. Only two other military rulers, Ayub Khan and Zia ul Haq, had presided over Pakistan's destiny longer than him - with equally disastrous consequences.
A staunch backer of the Taliban in Afghanistan and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, Musahrraf's world started falling apart after 9/11. Forced by the US to dump the Taliban, Musharraf ended up becoming the most valuable ally in the US war on terror, angering Islamic groups in his country and abroad. In the process, he survived two assassination attempts.
On Monday, as Musharraf announced his decision to resign towards the end of his hour-long rambling speech, celebrations broke out across Pakistan. Besides political activists, even the middle class distributed sweets.
But even while departing, there was no love lost between Musharraf and the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which was to originally have a deal with him before former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination in December changed the face of Pakistan's turbulent politics.
While Musharraf blamed the current rulers repeatedly in his speech, insisting that an economy that he said was good only eight months ago was now in a bad shape, human rights activist Amina Ali said: "All dictators meet such a fate. He should not be spared for his misdeeds."
Ahsan Iqbal of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the political force most bitterly opposed to him, added: "He should face the courts and should be tried for abrogating the constitution and for his anti-democratic acts."
Political and military sources said that Musharraf was originally planning to take on the ruling coalition, which Sunday gave a 24-hour deadline to resign. He changed his mind after army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, his handpicked successor, told him that the military would not back him any more.
The ruling coalition was jubilant.
"This is the right step; otherwise we were ready to table the impeachment motion in the parliament," Information Minister Sherry Rehman told IANS.
"This (resignation) is certainly going to improve the political situation in the country and will lead to stability," leading businessman Akram Sohaib Motiwala told IANS.
Indeed, soon after Musharraf's speech, the Pakistani rupee gained 1.20 against the US dollar and the KSE-100 index of the country's main stock market in Karachi - which had witnessed an unprecedented slide in the last three months - rose by 5.2 percent.
Musharraf's speech was telecast live from the Army House, from where he ruled Pakistan.
He counted his government's successes, saying he took power when the country was to be declared a terrorist state and financially a failed state. "I worked my level best to bring the country at par with the top developing nations."
Musharraf explained that he resigned because he wanted to avoid confrontation and further division with his political opponents, stating this would have only created instability in Pakistan.
"My attempt was always in creating an atmosphere of reconciliation. No victimisation, no vendetta," he said. "But a situation of confrontation was created instead of reconciliation."
He said he wanted to contribute and help the coalition government to run Pakistan. "Unfortunately they saw me as the problem not the solution."
Musharraf ended his speech in an almost choked voice, praying for the country's prosperity: "I have fought for almost 44 years for my country and am ready to lay down my life... My decision is to save the country."