"Where's Asafa Powell?... Oh sh*t I am gonna win" - Usain Bolt recalls his historic record-breaking 100m gold at Beijing Olympics 2008

By Anirudh

Modified Aug 09, 2024 15:36 GMT

Usain Bolt looked back on his 100m gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and gave an insight into his emotions during the race.

Bolt won the 100m gold in Beijing with a world record time of 9.69 seconds. It was not only the new world record but also the first time in history that someone ran the distance under 9.7 seconds without a significant tailwind.

In a video shared on his social media, Bolt said that he broke down the race into different parts, and knew he was trailing by the 30m mark. However, he surprised himself when he slowly took the lead in the race and crossed the finish line without a fight.

"When the race started, it was just... 'I need to get this first 50, right.' At 30 meters I looked, I was slightly behind. Then I ran to 50 and I was in line and everyone. I expected Asafa [Powell] to be ahead of everybody. Looked across, he wasn't there," he said.

"So I was like, you know what, continue running. Ran to 60, kind of checked, ran to 70. When I got the 80 meters, hold on, where's Asafa? You know what I mean? And then I was like, 'oh sh*t, I'm gonna win!' I started beating my chest," he added.

Bolt was excepting a tough fight from compatriot Asafa Powell, whose world mark he bettered with a 9.72-second effort earlier that year. However, Powell failed to deliver and finished fifth after clocking 9.95 seconds.

Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson (9.89 seconds) won the silver and American Walter Dix (9.91 seconds) took home the bronze.

---

“I didn’t know I was going to run so fast” - What Usain Bolt said after winning 100m gold in Beijing

Usain Bolt's 100m record time of 9.69 seconds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics could've been bettered had he not begun celebrating even before crossing the finish line.

With as many as seven strides left in the race, the Jamaican let his arms drop outstretched, almost ran sideways, started high-stepping, and even thumped his chest.

After his win, Bolt said that his celebrations were out of excitement and were not planned.

“I came out to make myself proud, and I did just that. It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t celebrating; I was excited. I didn’t know I was going to run so fast. But I came out to be a champion, and I was,” Bolt told reporters.

Bolt would later go on to win the 200m gold in Beijing, before adding six more medals in subsequent editions.