Bolt fastest man on planet

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BEIJING -- Usain Bolt sits at the podium and starts to answer a question and then stops, suddenly, transfixed.The television on the wall is showing a replay of his race.Bolt wants to watch.He sees himself erupt out of the starting blocks, sees himself fly to the lead, sees himself keep running, and running -- nobody within three strides of him now -- until he bursts through the tape.The clock reads: 19:30.Bolt sees himself thrust his hands in the air, then collapse onto the track. He has won another gold medal, broken Michael Johnson's iconic world record in the 200-meter dash.The replay ends. Bolt smiles.So, someone asks, what did he think, watching himself?Bolt shakes his head."I was looking at myself saying, 'That guy is fast.' "Not just fast, the fastest ever. The fastest the world has ever seen.Four days after winning a gold medal with a world record in the 100 meters, Bolt won a gold medal with a world record in the 200 meters. Bolt is one of just six sprinters to win the 100 and 200 at the same Olympics and the first since Carl Lewis in 1984."I blew my mind," he said, "and blew the world's mind."The world should be getting used to it by now.First, Michael Phelps and now Usain Bolt. The best swimmer ever and the best sprinter ever, together at the same Olympic Games. ESPN immediately posted a poll question: Who's more dominant, Bolt or Phelps?What an astonishing question to ask. We just watched Phelps put on what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime show and here we are, not exactly a lifetime later, watching Bolts put on another one."I'm on the track, he's on the water," said Bolt.Must be something in the McNuggets over here. Or maybe you haven't heard Bolt talk about his record-setting day. "I woke up at 12," he said.Sounds reasonable enough."My masseuse brought me nuggets, of course," he said.Of course. "I'm serious!" he said. "Then I went to the track and my masseuse brought me more nuggets."Hey, a man needs his fuel.Thus fortified, Bolt walked onto the track. He did that lightning bolt thing he does. He danced and patted his head, for what reason, nobody knows.Bolt tries to put on a show before and after a race. But the real show comes when it starts.The gun sounded. Instead of play-by-play, how about listening to the guys who had to run against him?Kim Collins, from St. Kitts & Nevis: "For every one of his strides, I have to go two and a half times faster."Christian Malcom, from Great Britain: "He's 6-5 and he runs like he's 5-9."Brian Dzingai, from Zimbabwe: "For him to break that record, that's just crazy."Collins, again: "How fast can one man go until you can't go any faster?"No idea, grasshopper. But it's telling that you asked you.Great athletes win titles and set records. The greatest athletes redefine their games and our sense of what is possible.Magic Johnson redefined the point guard position. Tiger Woods has redefined golf.Over the last four days, Bolt has redefined what sprinters can look like and how fast they can run.Watching Bolt sprint must be a little bit like watching a young Wilt Chamberlain play basketball. Who knew humans could do that?"He's a phenomenon," said Dizingi. "That's what we call a phenomenon. Something you can't explain."Naturally, some were already trying to explain it through chemistry. Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO, wrote a piece in the New York Daily News two days ago questioning Jamaica's drug testing program."Mr. Conte is a poster boy for cheating," said Herb Elliott, team doctor for Jamaican track. "He should not be allowed to open his mouth about anything."Deep sigh. This is where we are in sports. Anything that seems too good to be true in sports might just be.But if we didn't question the legitimacy of Phelps's records - and we didn't - how can we question the legitimacy of Bolt's? Besides, it's the guy's 22nd birthday today. He's a marvel and, also, a kick.He eats nuggets and shoots imaginary bolts in the air, he stops press conferences to watch himself run.He wins the replay, too. Then he offers his review."I would say, I look cool."(Contact Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., at calkinsg(at)commercialappeal.com.)