It's time for a Triple Crown of Speed.
The man. The myth. The guy whose prime we're wasting.
Image by David Gray / Reuters
Usain Bolt is the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen. Period. Full stop. End of discussion. Other things people say when they are trying to emphasize a point. He routinely beats the best runners on the planet without seeming to empty his tank. He's such an athletic freak of nature that a simple Google search brings up speculation that he could play in the NFL, suit up for Manhcester United, and win the long jump (an event in which he doesn't currently compete) at the Rio Olympics in 2016 (Bolt himself has expressed interest in this one). Hell, when you begin searching "Can Usain Bolt Outrun..." this is what you see.
(By the way, people trying to answer these questions always assume he'd be racing an average animal. Shouldn't he be racing the fastest bear/dog/lion? The Usain Bolt of dogs? To be the best, you have to beat the best!)
The motive behind these questions is clear: People want more Usain Bolt. They want to see Usain Bolt so much they would watch him race a dog. (Wouldn't you?) We want to see Bolt do what he was born to do — run really fucking fast in one of the most thrilling events in sports. We would pay to see it, in the sense that we would tolerate watching a bunch of ads leading up to a ten-second race in which he was competing. Why do we have to wait another four years to do this?
Usain Bolt doesn't technically take four-year breaks, of course. Olympic sprinters (and other track and field athletes) compete in what is called the Diamond League (formerly known as the Golden League before the United States, China, and Qatar began hosting meets alongside European contries). On September 7th, a month after reaffirming his greatness in London, Bolt ran in the Diamond Race (the league's finale) in Brussels. The title came down to Bolt, his countryman Nesta Carter, and American Ryan Bailey. Whichever of them took the final would take the title. It was as dramatic a set-up a race could hope for, and featured Bolt at the height of his popularity, and yet it was only broadcast on the Universal Sports Network. A station that you most likely do not have, and if you do, is buried deep on your dial. Though to USN's credit it was broadcast live. Unfortunately, that meant you'd have to be watching TV at 2:45 p.m. ET on a Friday to see Bolt win.