By EDDIE PELLS – 2 hours ago
BEIJING (AP) — Usain Bolt. Insane speed.
The Jamaican wunderkind hurtled to his second world record and his second Olympic gold medal, finishing the 200-meter race Wednesday night in 19.30 seconds to break Michael Johnson’s 12-year-old mark.
Bolt became the first man to break the world record in both the 100 and 200 at the same Olympics. Not since Carl Lewis in 1984 has any man doubled in the Olympic 100 and 200.
He had this one won about halfway through, but unlike his record-setting performance in the 100 four nights before, there was no hot-dogging, no celebrating until he crossed the line. He went hard all the way, looking at the clock down the stretch, leaning at the line, knowing that Johnson’s venerable mark was within reach.
When he saw the number come up — a number that never has before — he raised his arms, then fell flat to his back, arms and legs outstreched, and basked in the roar of the Bird’s Nest crowd.
It is no understatement to call him not just “The World’s Fastest Man,” but maybe the greatest sprinter of all time.