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Bolt Sets World Record, Wins Olympic 100 Gold

The Associated Press

Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates with a Jamaican flag and his shoes after winning the men's 100-meter final with a world record time in athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics today.

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The Associated Press

Published: August 16, 2008

CHINA - Usain Bolt rewrote the record books again and captured his first Olympic medal Saturday, running the 100-meter dash in a stunning 9.69 seconds for a blowout win that could have been even worse.

It was no contest as the 21-year-old Jamaican took a huge lead halfway through the race, then held his arms out wide, turned his palms up, pounded his chest and started celebrating a good 10 strides before he reached the finish line.

He broke his own record, set in May in New York, by .03 second and became the first sprinter to set the world record in an Olympic final since Donovan Bailey ran 9.84 at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Bolt beat Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago by 0.2 second - more than a body length - while American Walter Dix was third.

Asafa Powell, the Jamaican who held the world record for three years before Bolt grabbed it, continued his string of disappointments in big races, fading to fifth for the second straight Olympics.

American Tyson Gay, who was supposed to be the third part of a so-called dream race, was eliminated with a fifth-place finish in his semifinal. Maybe it was a good thing - now he won't be lumped in that list of seven guys who got blown out by the "World's Fastest Man."

The 6-foot-5 Bolt's specialty has been the 200 meters, which he will be a heavy favorite to win next week in what would be the first men's Olympic sprint double since Carl Lewis in 1988. But Bolt persuaded his coach 13 months ago to let him try the dash - and what quick progress he has made.

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