BOLT SHOWING HE IS IN FACT HUMAN

All season long I had been saying to myself that Usain Bolt didn’t seem quite himself. He is still winning every race he runs, yes, but he wasnt winning with the level of dominance that we saw in 2008 and 2009.
The thing is we have been spoiled by the high standards Bolt sets for himself. When he ran the 19.56s over the 200 metres at the national stadium on May 1, I found myself thinking that he could have gone faster as opposed to recognizing that the time was the fourth fastest in history and that only he, and one other man – Michael Johnson – had ever gone faster.
He then went to Daegu where his 9.86s 100-metre run didnt look all that impressive. He really worked hard for that time but because he has shown us 9.58s, we have come to believe that he needs to approach that time every time he steps onto the track.
He then drops 19.76s over the 200 metres in Shanghai and again I was not satisfied. Again, he seemed to be working too hard and failed to get that unbelievable separation from the mortals he was competing against.
Then yesterday after clocking 30.97s over the rarely run 300 metres and failing to break Michael Johnson’s standard of 30.85  that was run in Pretoria at altitude 10 years ago, Bolt finally confirmed my suspicions. “I am not in the same shape I was in in 2008 and in 2009,” he said, still breathing heavily from the effort. “I’m done.”
All season long Bolt has been saying that he plans to take it easy this year. He plans to break no records, only do what is required to win.

It should be interesting to see how this relative lack of fitness from Bolt plays out when he goes head to head with both Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, who look really sharp this year and are aiming to topple Bolt, even if it is for just one race.

Those races are going to be fun to watch, the anticipation palpable, because now that we know what we know, we are forced to acknowledge that there is no certainty that Bolt will win. Drama.

For the remainder of this season, its not Bolt against the clock, its Bolt against the two other fastest men in history. Superman has taken off his cape and returned to the ranks of the mortals and that is the kind of drama track and field needs.