London: Irony was at its cruellest as Usain Leo Bolt pulled up hurt in his final competitive race to end, in a cry of pain and agony, a decade of dominance that is unrivalled in the history of track and field.
Bolt failed to finish the men’s 4x100m relay race of the World Athletics Championships here after he pulled a hamstring at the home straight. The astonishing turn of events marred what was expected to be a golden farewell.
Running the final race of his career, the 30-year-old Bolt, after taking the baton from his Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, suffered cramps on his left hamstring as he tried, in vain, to chase down the British and American rivals in the last lap of the race.
Needing to make a lot of ground, Bolt began his familiar initial long strides but could not produce the trademark explosive burst of speed and suddenly stumbled, hobbled a few strides before falling on the track in pain and agony.
“It’s cramp in his left hamstring but a lot of pain is from disappointment from losing the race. The last three weeks have been hard for him. We hope for the best for him,” Jamaican team doctor Kevin Jones said later.
It was a terrible sight at the Olympic Stadium, the theatre of his three gold winning exploits in the 2012 Olympic Games. Bolt went down on his knees with hands on his head in dejection and was then lying alone on the tracks for a while before Blake and the other teammates, Julian Forte and Omar McLeod, gathered around him.
The towering Jamaican, who had dominated the sprint race like nobody else, was helped to his feet. As he limped over the finishing line, the crowd applauded him.
The scene this weekend was more heartbreaking than last Saturday when Bolt was beaten by his long-time rival Justin Gatlin in the 100m dash in his last individual race.
The last time, Bolt took a lap of honour to acknowledge the support and adulation of the crowd. But this time, there was no lap of honour and with Britain winning the gold, the crowd gave more attention to their home heroes and Bolt disappeared to the medical room.
For that matter, there was no kissing of the finish line nor the celebrated ‘Lightning Bolt’ pose, which fans around the world got used to all these years. The showman actually did not turn up on this night.
Britain won the gold in 37.47 seconds while United States (38.01) and Japan took the silver and bronze respectively.
Just after his 200m triumph at the 2012 London Olympics, he had declared, “I am a living legend. Bask in my glory!”
The world will continue to bask in his glory!
agence france-presse