Rio 2016: Thank God for the great sportsmen and women

One of the most beautiful songs I heard from the incomparable EK's Band – undoubtedly the most popular band in Ghana in the 1950s and 1960s – was entitled “Wobeka m'asem.” [“They will tell my story”!]

The words, articulated with true feeling by the golden voice of an incomparable "nightingale" called Kobina Okai, went like this:

“Wobeka m'asem, m'asem, m'asem

Wobeka m'asem, m'asem, m'asem

Wobeka akyere me mmma eeei!....”

(In so many words, the singer is prophesying that he will achieve such fame in the world that his story will have to be told [presumably endlessly!] to his children, when he himself is no more.)

However, the hero of the song somehow fails – mysteriously – to say exactly what he was going to do that would be so earth-shattering that he would become a legend whose story would have to be told – perforce – to his children! (Or maybe he does, but in relating the prophecy to us, Kobina Okai, great singer though he was, had swallowed some of the lyrics (as he was occasionally won't to do!)

Anyway, the words of the song could quite easily apply to Usain Bolt! In early July, he pulled a hamstring during training, and the Cassandras of the sporting world eagerly predicted that he might not make it to the Olympic Games in Rio Games at all, let alone defend his three Olympic titles – in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 100 x 4 metres relay.

“Three more gold for Usain? Forget it! The guy is history!” they said, with the confidence, one might add, of the lotto addict who is always going to make a big winning "next week", even as his clothing keeps dropping down his knees because he's staked all his money on “banker” lotto numbers he's expertly conjured up – in weeks past --  but which somehow  failed to "drop!"

This report in the Wall Street Journal (July 2, 2016) was typical of the alarm bells that tolled for the about-to-be-forgotten Usain  Bolt:

“Usain Bolt ... has withdrawn from the Jamaican Olympic track-and-field trials with a hamstring injury. [However] the world’s fastest man hopes to be given an exemption to make the national team for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In a statement posted on verified social media, Bolt said he had been diagnosed with a Grade-One hamstring tear by a team doctor, and that he had pulled out of the remainder of the Jamaican national championships. “I will seek treatment immediately and hope to show fitness at the London Anniversary Games on July 22 to earn selection for the Olympic Games in Rio,” he said.

“Bolt, 29, is a six-time Olympic gold medalist, across the 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m relay. He has been expected to defend those titles in Brazil this summer for an unprecedented third straight Olympics, which he has said would be his last. ... Bolt’s injury raises the possibility he could miss the Rio games, which would leave the event without one of its brightest stars.”

But just three weeks after the alarmist reports about his condition appeared in the media, Bolt, having taken the precaution of undergoing medical treatment in Germany, fulfilled his promise and arrived in London to take part in the “anniversary games” marking the anniversary of the 2012 London Olympics, where he had shone with stunning athletic feats. He only ran the 200m - but not the 100m - in the London anniversary games on 22 July 2016. But he did enough in that race to make his sprint rivals uneasy.

The facts show why:  a few weeks after suffering a hamstring injury (which could have disabled many other athletes for months) Usain Bolt had run the 200m in 19.89 seconds! In doing so, he beat an international field some of whose members were going to race against him at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in less than one month's time.

True, the field did not include Justin Gatlin of the United States, Bolt's closest rival in 2016. But it was unbelievable all the same, because it needed to be viewed against the background against which it happened: Bolt must have had his concentration shattered on two occasions before the race got under way, as one competitor was disqualified for making a false start, and that disturbance was followed by a second stoppage – this time, due to a technical fault. Having once been disqualified at a major international event for jumping the gun, Bolt could not have been more tense before the race finally got under way. Nevertheless, as noted before, he ran the 200m in 19.89!

The record Bolt was billed to defend at Rio was this:

100 Metres 9.58 (WR), Berlin (Olympiastadion), 16 AUG 2009

200 Metres 19.19 (WR), Berlin (Olympiastadion) 20 AUG 2009

300 Metres 30.97, Ostrava (Mestský Stadion), 27 MAY 2010

There was also the small matter of six gold medals gathered at consecutive Olympic Games – in Beijing and London. Could he make it a “ treble treble” (or triple treble, if you like!) by winning gold at Rio, in the 100m, 200m and the 4 x 100m relay?

The heats of the 100m at Rio provided the best indication of Bolt's condition. He ran Round 1 in 10.07s; and the Semi-final in 9.86s.

Then came the Final. Reuters described the race ran by Bolt as “imperious”.

The London Daily Telegraph, for its part, said: “The Jamaican superstar won the signature event in track and field in a runaway and added this line to his already gleaming resume: first person to capture three straight 100-metre titles at the Olympics. The 6-foot-5 sprinter overcame his typically slow unfurling from the blocks, gradually worked up speed, caught American Justin Gatlin with 40 metres left and was celebrating - pointing at his chest with his thumb - before he crossed the finish line.

“Bolt beat Gatlin, who was greeted by the fans with raucous boos, by .08 seconds. Andre de Grasse of Canada won the bronze. Chants of "Bolt, Bolt, Bolt" rang out from the near-capacity stadium. The show lived up to its billing. No, this wasn't Bolt at his fastest - or even his best. The man who burst onto the scene with his hot-dogging world record eight years ago in Beijing turns 30 after these Olympics and says these will be his last.

"I am a living legend," he said. "Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it. So I'm going to run with that one. I'm happy and I'm proud of myself. It wasn't perfect execution, but I'm proud of myself. I wanted to set myself apart from everybody else and this is the Olympics, I have to do it. I came to this Olympics to win three gold medals, to prove myself again as one of the greats."

Almost everyone who lives in Britain woke up on Monday morning with a smile on his/her face. For whereas Britons could only vicariously share in Bolt's glory, they had a lot to celebrate themselves. Andrew Murray won the Olympic gold medal in tennis; there were amazing results for British rowers gymnasts and cyclists – so much so that Britain was second only to the USA in the medals table on Monday!

So, enjoy the remaining games and thank God for the incredible sportsmen and women He has given us. What glory! What dreams have come true before our very eyes!

In our drab world, with its wars, hunger and disease, athletics and other sports reveal to us the wonder of what we could be enjoying in this life if only we weren't so stupid as to waste our time, energy and resources on horrible things like war and selfish politics. We must thank our sportsmen and women for showing us so splendidly that there is  another way to live in the world..

*Cameron Duodu is a veteran Ghanaian journalist and author. He blogs at http://cameronduodu.com/

* THE VIEWS OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM

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