Not the end the world envisioned
Usain Bolt has captivated the world with sheer speed and charisma for nine years. Ever since his first 100m Olympic gold in Beijing's Bird's Nest, the giant Jamaican sprint legend lived up to his reputation as 'lightning Bolt'. He has won everything, including a never-experienced-before triple-triple in the Olympics. And on Saturday the capacity crowd in London and the watching world wanted him to ride off into the sunset.
But the glitter that has cascaded upon the greatest athlete throughout his incredible career was nowhere to be seen. Instead the eight-time Olympic champion was spiked with bad luck that led to a disaster.
Anchoring Jamaica in the final of the 4x100 metre relay at the World Championships, Bolt pulled up with a leg injury down the home straight as he took the baton in third place and with plenty of work to do.
60,000 people gasped as their hero jumped, hobbled and then crumbled to the floor, as Great Britain sprinted away to a maiden gold medal with the USA and Japan in tow.
Grimacing in pain after that fatal cramp, Bolt limped to the finish line long after the race was done and dusted. He walked off with a blank look up at the sky, leaving his fans around the world stunned in silence.
After all no one had expected or wanted such an anti-climactic finish to a magnificent fairytale career. Bolt did not utter a word as he was understandably disappointed.
But his teammate Yohan Blake was the first of the Jamaican's through the media mixed zone, slamming his fists on a barrier in front of two Japanese reporters who looked completely unsure if they wanted to provoke him further with a question.
Teammate Omar McLeod walked past, tears in his eyes as the magnitude of the situation dawned on him.
It was the third member of the quartet, Julian Forte, who articulated how they were feeling.
"We really wanted to send him off in style, send him off with a gold medal. All of us were doing our best to make that happen, but unfortunately, injuries are a part of this sport and it's devastating what happened, but we have to find a way to deal with it."
Forte linked Bolt's injury to the longer-than-usual wait they had in the call room pre-race.
"We were in there getting ready to go for quite a while, it's not the warmest weather. It's not the sort of thing that any of us from Jamaica are accustomed to. I think it's something they really need to look into and I definitely think that's what caused the injury".
Even Bolt's perceived rival Justin Gatlin conceded the drop in temperature had an effect.
But Bolt, a clean athlete with so many cheats around him, still limped off with his head held high not only as a true entertainer but for upholding the true spirit of the game.
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