Usain Bolt MPH: The fastest man alive

With an ideal blend of attributes including speed strength and an undeniably remarkable surname Usain Bolt was destined to dominate the racetrack Today on his 37th birthday letrsquos take a look at Usain Boltrsquos recordbreaking achievementsThe remarkable mental resilience behind his relentless winning streak often remains unexplored Athletes like Michael Jordan Simone Biles and Michael Phelps have solidified their dominance with unwavering focus However how did Bolt maintain a mental edge for nine years in events lasting mere seconds What distinguished the mindset that propelled him to unparalleled achievementsIts intriguing to think that batsmen worldwide might be grateful Bolt chose sprinting over fast bowling Standing at 6rsquo5rdquo and capable of outpacing a cheetah in the 100meter dash if Bolts bowling speed matched his sprinting prowess he would have been a formidable force on the cricket field In essence athletics gained while cricket missed out on his talentsAs the man with the iconic lightningbolt pose secured another historic Olympic gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Im reminded of the words of the renowned American author and humorist Mark Twain Thunder is good Thunder is impressive But it is lightning that does the workBolt dominated the night with lightning speed securing his third consecutive recordbreaking win in the 200 metersPicture thisThere he was loping through the shadowy tunnel at the Olympic Stadium In the distance out on the track lay the red starting blocks for the 100meter dashStart time four minutes away Three two oneNow 30 seconds awayThe Stadium falls silent It is the best silence in sports thick with possibility and pressure For the first time in the night fans could hear the blades of a helicopter hovering above Each sprinter crouches into position The fans rise to their feetThe starters gun soundsBolt is slow off the blocks After 20 meters he is behind Justin Gatlin of the United States his longtime rivalThe jump to hyperspeed finally kicks in at 50 meters He passed Gatlin for the lead at 70 meters The crowd is in fullthroat as if in rapture Bolt is again casting his spellHe then blurs across the finish line at 981 to win his third straight Olympic gold in the 100 Gatlin only a step behind Bolt crosses the line at 989 for the silverBolt gradually eases into a jog extending his arms towards the sky The memory of these four minutes remains unparalleled This moment occurred in 2016 and now seven years have elapsedAlso Read To play or not to play that is the questionNone wondered what good it might do if he lost And wersquoll never know Because Bolt never lostIt was as if he was always eager to reaffirm the obvious to everyone watching that this one was about the win It was about how history will remember himIf you look closely there has also been a thunderlightning comparison between his two individual events the 100 and the 200The 100 is the trackrsquos greatest show the event where there is the most bluster and the race that decides who is the worldrsquos fastest man But the 200 is where he has more often than not completed the job of proving he is indeed the worldrsquos best sprinter the complete package you could sayDonrsquot let Boltrsquos dominance at a third straight Olympics lull you into thinking the two victories automatically go hand in hand In the last 15 Summer Olympics until Rio only two other winners of the menrsquos 100 went on to claim the 200One was Carl Lewis who accomplished it with unquestioned authority in 1984 But when Lewis tried to repeat the sweep in 1988 he was beaten in the 200 by training partner Joe DeLoachThe other relatively recent 100200 doubler was the Soviet Unionrsquos Valery Borzov in 1972 He gets a miniasterisk to go with his two golds because confusion about start times caused two top Americans to miss qualifying heats in the 100Then there was Bolt the first Olympian to score a tripledouble in the 100 and 200If I were to choose just one of those races to watch it would be the 200 meters as it gives us the opportunity to witness double the spectacle of Bolt Its hard not to appreciate that