Who’s the most dominating athlete in sports today? It’s a question that can be argued over and over. There are plenty of nominees in sports today; you have Tiger Woods in golf, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in the NBA, Albert Pujols in MLB, Candace Parker in the WNBA, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the NFL, Roger Federer in tennis, Jennie Finch in softball, and even Michael Phelps in swimming.
However, I don’t believe any of these athletes compare to the 23-year-old Jamaican track phenomenon Usain Bolt, who just set two more world records a few weeks ago in Berlin.
The “Lightning Bolt,” as the media likes to call him, first appeared in the world spotlight back in 2002 at the age of 15 when he won the 200-meters and became the youngest person to ever win a gold medal at the World Junior Championships. A couple years later, while competing in the Caribbean Free Trade Organization Games in Bermuda, Bolt became the first junior sprinter to ever run the 200 meters under 20 seconds.
Bolt turned pro at the age of 18 and was selected to represent Jamaica in the 2004 Athens Olympics; however, he was hampered by a hamstring injury and was eliminated in the first round of the 200 meters.
After four years of training and rehab, Bolt was back in shape and ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he made a name for himself. In the 100-meter final, Bolt set the world record at 9.69 seconds, defeating the second place finisher by a full two-tenths of a second. Later in the Beijing Olympics he would break the 200-meter world record with a finishing time of 19.3 seconds. Bolt became the first sprinter since the introduction of electronic timing to hold both the 100-meter and 200-meter world record simultaneously.
Just two weeks ago, Bolt improved his world record times in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He set the new world record in the 100 meters at 9.58 seconds, over a tenth of a second faster than his previous record. Bolt also improved his time in the 200 meters by more than a tenth of a second; finishing in 19.19 seconds.
The reason that I say none of the other athletes in sports today are as dominant as Bolt is because of what he has accomplished at such a young age. Think about this: Bolt holds the world record for the 100-meters, 200-meters and, along with his teammates, the 4×100 meter relay. Also remember that Bolt is dominating a sport in which almost anyone in the world could compete. Most humans cannot hit a 95 mph fastball dunk a basketball or even swim for that matter, but most anyone in the world can run. Bolt is the best at it.
Let’s not forget to mention the manner in which he accomplished these feats. He won the 100-meters in Beijing by two-tenths of a second and that was after he slowed down to celebrate with just over ten meters to go. Sure, Bolt can come off as cocky at times, but he has the swagger, confidence and talent to back it up.
He’s as close to invincible as we may see for many years to come in the sports world, and as Bolt has mentioned numerous times to the media, he believes he can still improve on his take off out of the blocks and further enhance his world record times.
