Daegu, South Korea, Sept 2: Usain Bolt didn't need his spikes anymore, at least not on this day.
A few minutes after winning his heat Friday in the 200-meter semifinals at the world championships, the Jamaican showboater reared back and tossed a shoe into the upper deck at Daegu Stadium.
One lucky fan got the souvenir of a lifetime.
“Back to my normal self,” Bolt said, five days after being disqualified from the 100 final because of a false start. “I'm trying to enjoy the game as much as possible.”
As if that's a surprise.
Besides setting records and winning gold medals, Bolt has become the star of the sport because of antics on the track. And Friday's show was more of the same.
The Jamaican did a little dance in Lane 6 before reeling off a pseudo drum roll with his fingers. Then he patted down his hair as he was being introduced to the packed crowd.
When the camera returned to him, he stood ready to box. With more cheers and the starter about to ask the runners to take their marks, Bolt put his finger to his lips and shushed them all.
Once he got going, Bolt immediately gained ground on the rest of the runners in the field and had a clear lead by the time he came out of the bend.
And while running for the finish line, the tall Jamaican had plenty of time to look up at the giant screen and see he was all alone. That was enough for him to slow down and coast into the final with a time of 20.31 seconds.
“I know I'm still the best, so I'm focused on it,” said Bolt, who is also expected to run for Jamaica in the 4x100 relay.
Bolt came into the championships as the man to watch, and the man to beat.
“It's Bolt. You can do nothing,” said Reto Schenkel of Switzerland, who finished last in Bolt's heat. “He's tall. He makes one step and I make five steps. It's crazy. It's Bolt.”
After winning a sprint double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in record-setting time, he broke his 100 and 200 world records at the 2009 worlds in Berlin.
Daegu looked like it would be another stop along the way to a third straight 100-200 double, but then came the false start.
He promised he would be back in the 200, and he has so far not disappointed. His time in the second heat of the semifinals was second only to Christophe Lemaitre of France, who won the opening heat in 20.17.
“Expect always the best from me,” Bolt said. “I always go out there and do my best.” AP
