Bolt bolts fine enough in 100m

21-year-old Jamaican Usain Bolt is the new 100m sprint world record holder. What a magical night. How freeing to watch this tall sleek man glide through the track at half the effort of the rest of the field. No grimacing, no straining of sinews and wills fighting air resistance in the quest to be known as the fastest human in the world. Bolt only ran. And made sprint look like a jog on the beach. The world agrees that he has to be from another planet. At the least, Bolt did not run like a human. All the more reason to celebrate his naiveity; To celebrate the fact that this young man wanted nothing to do with times and records and aimed only to be champion. For it showed him up to be human after all. Bolt had run his race so effortlessly that he began celebrating his win 20m from the finish. The thump on his Jamaican jersey, the exhortation to the crowd to salute the fastest man in history, the mad jig after his victory – track could not have asked for a better man on its big night on the biggest arena of it all. Hopefully, Bolt’s glee at being champion will do more to inspire thousands of youngsters around the world to feel the wind in their hair. And maybe encourage a lot of us jaded ones to go for a run when life’s weaves get too complicated.

For bringing innocence back to the simplest of all games, for bringing joy to a million hearts watching him that night and later, for making us believe in fallible yet perfect legends and for instilling faith, here’s a salute to Bolt.

One man’s merry flight could yet launch a hundred dreams in my country. For Bolt has shown, faith and hope are not as ephemeral as we sometimes believe.

Oh and bring on the chicken nuggets! Which dolt says I cannot have nuggets and run like Bolt?(Unwittingly, Bolt might just be the new role model for anorexic couch potatoes.)