Was the IOC right to criticise Usain Bolt? What is the most dangerous sport at the Games? And what’s the worst horse joke you could possibly imagine?

Tune in to the latest podcast as I’m joined by Julian Linden, Simon Evans, Ossian Shine and Paul Majendie for a figurative stroll around the Olympic green. 

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, chided Usain Bolt on Thursday for showing a lack of respect to his rivals after his sprint double at the Beijing Games.

Maybe it’s a generational thing but I doubt if a single person lucky enough to be in the Bird’s Nest on for his 200 metres gold and world record on Wednesday, or when he won his 100 metres in such audacious style, would agree.

“I think he should show more respect, shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones. Not making gestures like the one he made in the 100 metres,” Rogge said on Thursday. “He still has to mature. I would love him to show more respect to his competitors. He should learn that he should shake hands with competitors.”

We have discussed on the blog the rights and wrongs of the Jamaican’s “premature” celebrations as he crossed the line in the 100 — creating one of the iconic images of the Games.

But surely nobody could point the finger about the 200. Bolt was deadly serious about not only completing the sprint double but also taking Michael Johnson’s world record, which he did by running right through the line to clock 19.30 seconds.

His opponents were so far behind he would have stiffened up if he had waited around to shake hands and there were 90,000 people, most of them with cameras, who wanted a closer look at their new hero.

Bolt obliged perfectly, smiling, laughing, dancing and posing — to the delight of the fans who repaid the compliment by singing “happy birthday” ahead of him turning 22 today.

Bolt then spent almost an hour talking patiently to TV crews, before facing the hysterical written press in the mixed zone, then sitting down and going over it all again in the news conference.

He earned respect from everyone who saw him, including finalist Kim Collins who said: “He gave us a brutal ass-kicking.”

Rogge wants him to mature, and he is a year older today than when he won the 200, but for the next generation of athletics fans that the sport is desperate to attract, Bolt is pure gold and the officials should recognise and embrace that.

PHOTO: (TOP): Bolt celebrates gold and a world record in the 200m. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

PHOTO (BOTTOM): Bolt crosses the finish line to win the 200m. REUTERS/Hans Deryk

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

Ever since Usain Bolt’s father Wellesley told Reuters that the “Trelawny Yam” was behind his son’s world-record breaking gold medal win in the men’s 100 metres, the Olympics has gone into a feeding frenzy over yam.

Rarely has a root vegetable enjoyed as much global interest as the previously humble Yam. So, to satisfy our readers’ craving and hunger, here are Several Things You Didn’t Know About Yam (we couldn’t think of 10).

1. Yams vary in size but some can grow to as long as 2.28 metres which is even longer than Usain Bolt himself (I think).

2. There are believed to be over 150 varieties of Yam. The most popular Jamaican variety is Yellow Yam. However Yam Laranas is not a variety of the vegetable. He is in fact a Filipino film director.

3. Every April, the Trelawny Parish, where Usain Bolt was born and raised, celebrates their root vegetable with the Trelawny Yam Festival which attracts up to 10,000 visitors.

4. “Cogito ergo spud” is Latin for “I think, therefore I Yam”

5. ‘Bat Yam’ is not a Caribbean cartoon Superhero but is a city located on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

6. Some yam can be toxic if eaten raw. So cook it. This Jamaican lady shows you how.

If you have any more fascinating facts about yam, send em in.

PHOTO: Jamaican fans celebrate Usain Bolt of Jamaica winning the men’s Olympic 100 metres final, at a bar in downtown Beijing, August 16, 2008. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen

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.  

Yesterday I took a mean swipe at sports journalists for the vacuous questions they put to athletes. I must tip my baseball cap today, however, to the reporter who asked Usain Bolt how the fastest man in the world had spent his day.

It seems the Jamaican did a lot of time sleeping, and in between feasted on “nuggets”.

It took Bolt senior, speaking from Jamaica, to put the record straight — and perhaps deter millions of adoring young athletes from a lifetime of fast food. His son’s gold medal, Wellesley Bolt said, was the result of a diet rich with the vegetable yam.

I can see it now: the McYam Happy Meal.
 
Maybe there is something special in root vegetables like yam. The secret of Samoan weighlifter Ele Opeloge’s strength, according to her coach, is a variety known as taro.
 
No doubt the majority of other Olympians in Beijing are eating an exemplary diet packed with fruit, vegetables, tasty tubers and other unprocessed food. Still, the McDonald’s restaurant at the athletes’ village has been doing brisk trade.

Take Jay Lyon, Canada’s best hope for an archery medal, who admits he is probably not the archetypal Olympian.

“I’m not much of an athlete — I eat a lot of McDonalds,” he said ahead of the Games. “I’m probably overweight for an athlete.” Lyon weighs 96 kilograms (212 pounds).

Lyon only has to stand behind a line and shoot some arrows, so “probably overweight” is probably okay.

But what about the athletes who have to break a sweat for their medals? No problem. Just ask U.S. sprint and long jump gold medallist Carl Lewis, who had this to say at a McDonald’s burger-making contest in Beijing: “I eat McDonald’s. I’ve always eaten McDonald’s. I even worked at McDonald’s. It was my first job.”

PHOTO: Usain Bolt of Jamaica poses with his gold medal during the men’s 100m medal ceremony of the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 17, 2008. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

The podcast team reflect on insane Usain, Phelps fatigue and the most dangerous man at the Beijing Olympics.

I’m joined by Julian Linden, Belinda Goldsmith, Brian Homewood, Erik Kirschbaum and Neil Maidment to look at the dafter side of the Beijing Games.

And if you were in any doubt as to the talents of Mr Linden, listen out for him playing the piano in the background.

Click below to play.

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

Picture of the day has to be the victory celebration of the fastest man on earth, Jamaican Usain Bolt, after winning Olympic gold at the 100 m sprint.

This picture was shot by London-based Reuters staff photographer Dylan Martinez and the composition is perfect.

The winner looks up, while the silver medallist can only look on; it’s full of action, with both men off the ground. With a closer look you can even see that Bolt’s shoe lace is undone.

For a selection of other great Reuters pix from the Games click here. For the previous day’s chosen picture click here.

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