LONDON — Pulling away from the pack with every long stride, Usain Bolt crossed the finish line and wagged his right index finger.
Yes, he’s still No. 1 in the 100-meter dash.
Bolt, in sixth place at the halfway point, erased that deficit and overwhelmed a star studded field to win in 9.63 seconds, an Olympic record that let him join Carl Lewis as the only men with consecutive gold medals in the marquee track and field event at the Summer Games.
“Means a lot, because a lot of people were doubting me. A lot of people were saying I wasn’t going to win, I didn’t look good. There was a lot of talk,” Bolt said. “It’s an even greater feeling to come out here and defend my title and show the world I’m still No. 1, I’m still the best.”
Bolt’s victory lap included high-fives for front-row fans, a pause to crouch down and kiss the track and even a somersault. Thousands in the crowd chanted the champion’s name: “Usain! Usain! Usain!”
“I’ve said it over the years, that when it comes to the championships, this is what I do,” Bolt said. “It’s all about business for me.”
Bolt’s training partner and Jamaican teammate, world champion Yohan Blake, won the silver in 9.75, and 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin of the U.S. took the bronze in 9.79.
Former Arkansas Razorbacks runner Tyson Gay finished fourth in a time (9.80) that would have been good enough to win every Olympic 100 gold medal other than the past two.
Gay was inconsolable after the race, crying his way through an interview in the mixed zone.
“I tried. I tried, man,” Gay said. “I tried my best. I gave it my all.”
Gatlin claimed bronze after serving a four-year ban after testing positive for excessive testosterone.
“To be honest, I went out there to challenge a mountain. I went out there to challenge the odds. Not just myself and everything I’ve been through, but the legacy of Usain Bolt,” Gatlin said. “I had to go out there and be fearless.”
Everyone in the final broke 10 seconds except former world-record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica, who pulled up with a groin injury.
Bolt, 25, electrified track and field four years ago in Beijing, winning gold medals in world-record times in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay - something no man had ever done at an Olympics. His 100 mark of 9.69 set there, the one that came despite some slowing down for celebratory chest slapping, only lasted until the next year’s world championships, when he lowered the record to 9.58.
But Bolt fell victim to a string of minor injuries to his back and legs. In 2010, he lost to Gay, a past world champion.
A false start knocked Bolt out of the 100 at last year’s world championships, creating an opening for Blake. Then came recent, much-discussed losses to Blake in the 100 and 200 at the Jamaican Olympic trials.
“The trials woke me up. Yohan gave me a wake up call,” Bolt said. “He knocked on my door and said, ’Usain, wake up! This is an Olympic year.”’
Bolt, a fast runner who likes to drive fast, too, was involved in a wee-hours car crash in Kingston in June - not the only auto accident he’s been in. His publicist played down the seriousness of the latest episode, but the hand-wringing in Jamaica intensified after the poor performances at the trials a few weeks later.
Bolt never let any of that affect him in London.
“I had to show the world I’m the greatest,” he said.
Earlier Sunday, Bolt eased up down the stretch while winning his semifinal heat , then- mugged for the cameras and said, “I’m back, baby. All day, every day.”
About two hours later he proved it, running the second fastest 100 in history.
Bolt begins defending his title in the 200, which he considers his best event, in Tuesday’s heats. He’s also part of Jamaica’s 4x100 relay team, of course, and wouldn’t rule out taking part in the 4x400 this time, as well.
Bolt’s pre-race antics included him pantomiming scratching a record like a DJ, then smiling his infectious smile. He put a finger to his lips, as though shushing his critics.
Right before the starting gun, a bottle was tossed from the stands and it landed on the track behind Blake’s lane. But neither Bolt nor Blake noticed.
“When they say, ‘On your marks,’ that’s when the focus starts,” Bolt said.
He took a while, as usual, to get up to top speed, but once he found his extra gear, no one else stood a chance, even though the men surrounding Bolt were an accomplished bunch. Once he found himself even with the leaders with about 50 meters left, Bolt did what he does best.
Cheeks puff ing, arms pumping right along with each of those lengthy strides - Bolt is taller (6-5) and leaner than the typical 100 champs of the past - he reeled in everyone else, even leaning at the finish for good measure.
“I stopped worrying about the start,” Bolt said. “The end is what’s important.”
There were other events on Sunday’s schedule, and Sanya Richards-Ross won the only U.S. gold at the track so far. She erased the bad memory of her bronze-medal finish in Beijing by accelerating down the stretch to win the 400 meters in 49.55 seconds.
Other winners were Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Krisztian Pars of Hungary in the men’s hammer throw, Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan in the women’s triple jump, and Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia in the women’s marathon. Oscar Pistorius, the amputee “Blade Runner” from South Africa, finished last in his 400-meter semifinal but will get another chance in next week’s 4x400-meter relay.
Bolt’s victory in the 100 four years ago began a stretch of dominance by Jamaica, an island nation of 3 million people - about 1 percent as many as the U.S. - that now owns seven of the last eight Olympic men’s and women’s sprinting golds, including relays.
About 1 1/2 hours before Bolt’s latest victory, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce stepped to the top of the medal stand in the stadium and received the gold she earned in the women’s 100 on Saturday night. Like Bolt, she’s a repeat champion.
Bolt gets the distinction as the only man to cross the finish line first in back-to-back dash finals. Lewis’ victory in Seoul in 1988, following his first 100 title at Los Angeles in 1984, was awarded only after apparent champion Ben Johnson of Canada was stripped for failing a drug test. Johnson hailed from the same Trelawny parish in Jamaica that is home to Bolt.
Sports, Pages 15 on 08/06/2012