Jamaica’s Usain Bolt completed a breathtaking sprint double at the Beijing Games on Wednesday, breaking the 200 metres world record that many had thought unbreakable to take his second Olympic gold medal.

The contrast between this and his winning run in the 100 could hardly have been more marked, as this time he gave it everything he had to go under the old best mark, Michael Johnson’s 19.32, by two hundredths of a second.

While Bolt had ambled through the final quarter of the 100, and easily lowered the world record to 9.69, this time he was grimacing with effort as he made for the finish.

There was no one within two, three metres of him as he dipped for the line, glanced over at the clock and leapt with joy as the clock stopped at 19.31.

That was soon rounded down to 19.30 - a mark that will surely not be bettered, certainly by no one else, for a long time to come.

It completed an incredible sprint double for the world’s fastest man and cast an indelible mark on the Olympics. None of us in the 91,000 crowd at the Bird’s Nest will forget it.

What did you make of his performance? What does it mean for Jamaica?

Let us know in the comments.

PHOTO: Usain Bolt of Jamaica gestures after finishing first in his men’s 200m semi-final of the athletics competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Stadium August 19, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray

Was Usain Bolt’s theatrical exuberance before, during and after his 100 metres final appropriate for a man who gave a devastating performance that broke his own world record?

Or was it indulgent, inappropriate and over the top?

Do we want our sportspeople to be modest personalities whose performances do the talking?

Or is showboating and swagger part of the big game experience, key to both the entertainment we crave and the self-belief needed to win at the top level?

Sprinters are not known for being shy, retiring people but a touch of braggadocio is needed by people who explode in intense effort for a few seconds, adrenaline and energy coursing through them, and must then run off their brain-popping endorphins in victory laps or a disappointed jog to the dressing room.

Even so, Bolt’s dancing, gesturing, chest thumping and shoe kissing has divided opinion. Did he go too far?

Was it all a tease to excite us ahead of the 200 metres sprint, Bolt’s favourite race, which he is now hot favourite to win on Wednesday night? Or is the 21-year-old Jamaican such a brilliant athlete he is entitled to his histrionics and we owe it to him just to admire?

Some commentators felt he made a mockery of the race, literally and figuratively. Others chided him for clowning around. Egotistic, said one blogger. Disrepectful, said others. He missed an opportunity to truly devestate the world record by slowing up before the finish, said one fellow athlete.

Others made humorous lists about what Bolt could have done in the spare time he had at the end of his sprint. Text his agent, was the suggestion in one U.S. newspaper.

Charges of hubris come fastest when the celebrations start before the athlete is over the finish line. Is it more acceptable in endurance sports, where a competitor is clearly ahead, has already earned the victory and can be forgiven for wanting to amplify the moment of joy?

Triathlete Emma Snowsill had time to collect an Australian flag more than a 100 metres from the finish and drape herself in that and the finish line banner to celebrate her triumph in the Beijing women’s triathlon. But she was leading by more than a minute. Bolt was leading by two tenths of a second or so.

Despite Bolt’s outstanding form I will be watching the 200 metres carefully, mindful of the famous pratfalls of sport, where a competitor has their arms raised in triumph, medal in the bag, only for a rival to sweep past them at the end.

I was reminded of snowboarder Lindsay Jacobellis who was set for gold in the Turin Olympics. She tried to show off on a jump and crashed out of first place. I hope the laidback Jamaican looks carefully over his shoulder.  

Shelly-Ann Fraser roared clear of the pack to win the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 100 metres and complete a sprint double for Jamaica.

Fraser finished ahead of Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson, who dead-heated for silver in a Jamaican clean sweep at the Bird’s Nest on Sunday.

It followed Usain Bolt’s extraordinary victory in the men’s 100 metres on Saturday and confirmed Jamaica as the world’s sprint capital.

Was it all down to Yam power again?

Or is there some other reason why Jamaica is so good? Let us know in the comments.

PHOTO: Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica celebrates winning the women’s 100m final of the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 17, 2008. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

As Usain Bolt coasted past my press seat in a burst of speed and swagger on Saturday night, splaying his arms and pumping his chest as he crossed the 100 metres finish line, it was just the buzz everyone had promised me from my first Olympics.

I was there to report on the atmosphere at the Games’ blue riband event, but involuntarily found myself screaming encouragement, then laughing in joy and awe. As he ran around the track in delighted celebration, I was close to tears.

Here was the showman and the hero athletics has been crying out for, and I had been there to see it for myself.

I had been a fan of the Olympics as a small boy, and I still remember the ease and grace with which Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena won the men’s 400 and 800 metres in Montreal in 1976.

But the money, and the doping, gradually killed the romance for me.

The last 100 metres final I remember vividly was the classic showdown between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in Seoul in 1988. When Johnson was found to have taken drugs, the spell was broken. 

Then, in 10 seconds, or should I say 9.69 seconds, of sporting genius, I was entranced again.

To be fair, it has not just been about Bolt.

I saw the ease and elegance of Michael Phelps in his first race, watched women’s synchronised divers Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin drawing gasps and applause from their first dive and on the spur of the moment popped in to see the Chinese women’s gymnastics team sailing through the air like imps.

Sport would also not be complete without a big dose of controversy, but I have to admit I was a little surprised when the coach of the Australian women’s waterpolo team told me the referees were “stupid” and “arseholes”.

Nor was I really expecting it when a Swedish greco-roman wrestler lay his bronze medal down on the mat in protest at the refereeing and walked out of the arena — and out of the sport — with his fist raised.

In the end, though, it is the sporting excellence, the drama and the genius which has really captivated me. Not to mention “insane” Usain Bolt.

PHOTO: Usain Bolt of Jamaica is congratulated by fans after winning the men’s 100m final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 16, 2008. REUTERS/Hans Deryk

Usain Bolt’s 100m triumph at the Bird’s Nest will surely be one of those sporting moments that stay in the collective memory for decades.

As anyone who was there, or who saw the TV pictures, will attest, Bolt could have put in an even quicker time than his new world record of 9.69 seconds, had he not started celebrating with 20 metres to go (it’s down to yam power, according to his family).

Yet it was his supreme confidence, bordering on arrogance, in milking the moment that made it such a memorable run.

Arms outstretched, face turned to the crowd, with 10 metres to go, Bolt knew that no-one was going to catch him and he could take a good look around as he made history. He carried on sprinting way past the finish line and the first quarter of his victory lap was almost a taster of what is to come when he runs in 200 metres.

He didn’t stop running until he spotted some Jamaican fans in the crowd, so easily identifiable in those vibrant yellow shirts with that magnificently proud flag, and went in for a hug.

After Michael Phelps pushed the limits of swimming to a new level this week now the track and field section of the Games has started with an astonishing performance which we will see replayed on our television screens countless times in the next week and beyond.

I first saw Bolt at the Jamaican national championships, the island’s Olympic trials, back in June. Despite the presence of his rival Asafa Powell in the same 100 metres race, he eased off and virtually jogged over the finish line, leaving some of the fastest men in world athletics panting behind.

Then, as now, he made his rivals look like little kids chasing vainly down the back street after the big boy.

PHOTO: Usain Bolt celebrates winning the men’s 100m final, August 16, 2008. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the Olympic 100 metres on Saturday, shattering the world record in the process with a time of 9.69 seconds.

Bolt thumped his chest in celebration as he crossed the line, after leaving Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (silver) and American Walter Dix (bronze) trailing at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Asafa Powell finished out of the medals, while Tyson Gay was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Bolt had looked capable of running an extremely fast time as he ambled through the heats and so it proved in Beijing on Saturday as he pulled off a win that will live long in the memory.

But what do you think of his achievement? Let us know in the comments. We’ll have more on this later, but for now, here’s another photo:

Reuters photos: Gary Hershorn (top), Jerry Lampen (bottom)

Until today I would not have thought it possible that somebody could amble 100 metres in 9.92 seconds but that is what Usain Bolt did in his second heat of the event on the first day of athletics action in the Bird’s Nest.

The gods had been kind and produced a clear-skied day hot day with minimum breeze and Bolt enjoyed his time in the sun.

He started off running 10.2 in the opening heat and never appeared to reach full speed, was easing down from about 70 metres yet clocked a time that would have won the gold medal in the Moscow Olympics 28 years ago.

He returned in the evening for a another leisurely stroll around the Bird’s Nest to make it clear that his world record of 9.72 is extremely vulnerable.

The near-capacity 91,000 crowd certainly enjoyed it, and were similarly pleased by the efforts of Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, Bolt’s two biggest, but by no means only, rivals for the gold in Saturday’s final.

With the Olympic flame burning fiercely from its Cornetto cauldron and the echo of the starter’s gun rippling up through the magnificent triple-tiered stadium, there was no question that the fans were watching something special.

There was not too much local success to get the Chinese supporters going but they let rip when heptathlete Liu Haili made her clearances in the high jump.

What they will be like when when Liu Xiang goes in the 110 hurdles final on Aug. 21 I can scarcely imagine. But I’m looking forward to finding out.

Mitch Phillips, from the Bird’s Nest

PHOTO: Usain Bolt of Jamaica competes in the first men’s 100m heat at the National Stadium during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 15, 2008. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

NOTE: This post was updated after the second heats in the evening.

The athletics is underway, at last, and the three favourites Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay all came safely through their heats this morning.

This is the race everyone will be talking to in the build-up to Saturday’s final so we thought we’d give you the chance to sound like an expert without have to leaf through the record books.

Mitch Phillips, swimming’s favourite reporter , tells you five things you knew but may well have forgotten about the best race in the world. Click on the video above.

There was a classic moment at a media conference with 100 metres world record holder Usain Bolt today. Bolt’s coach told Reuters last week that the Jamaican would run the 100m as well as the 200m but he seemed unaware of the fact on Tuesday.

“I still have to decide,” he said, before being informed of his coach’s comment.

“Well it seems like I’m doubling then,” he added. “I thought I was 80 percent sure I would be doubling, now I’m 100 percent.”

Bolt also spoke to my colleague Nick Mulvenney and we have a rough cut video out there now. See below.

Click here for the full story.

Russell Boyce writes: Great contacts and hard work led to Reuters News Pictures photographer Hans Deryk getting exclusive pictures of Usain Bolt, the 100m world record holder at the National Stadium.

The simple picture of Bolt posing with the specially made gold running shoes that he will wear when he aims for Olympic gold are a perfect blend of a sports news value with timing and place. After all, how much better could it get: the fastest man, being seen for the first time at the venue with is new running shoes.

Bolt posing, sitting down in front of the Bird’s Nest, his shoes in the foreground and arms stretched has led to a great shaped image that embraces the viewer and draws them into an eye catching picture.

Russell Boyce is Reuters chief photographer, Asia. For a selection of other great Reuters pix from the Games click here. 

Note: The text was amended on Aug. 6 at 0347 to remove a reference to Bolt defending his title.