What goes around, comes around! After watching the Americans take the 100 metres gold medals at every world championship since his last success in 2015, sprint legend Usain Bolt boldly predicted a Jamaican 1-2 in the lead up to the final in Tokyo.
Speaking with a genuine confidence before the race, Bolt backed his countrymen Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville to claim the top two places and defeat defending champion, and pre-race favourite Noah Lyles, and so it proved.
Lyles had been eyeing a sprint double in the 100m and 200m, but had no answer to the stronger Jamaicans on the day, with Seville storming through to take the title in a personal best time of 9.77sec, just ahead of his teammate, with the US Olympic champion having to settle for bronze.
Bolt was in the stands to watch his prediction come to fruition and celebrated wildly at their success and what he hopes will be the start of a new period of Jamaican sprint domination.
Victory in the making
The talent has been evident for some time, but Oblique Seville has just missed out on a number of occasions and was bitterly disappointed to finish last in what was the fastest ever Olympic final in Paris last year.
Despite being hard on himself, he did clock a time of 9.91 on that occasion – a time that would have been good enough for fourth at the Tokyo Games three years before then.
Special moment in front of hero
He delivered in style this time after shouldering a nation’s expectation for several years and to do it in front of his hero made the moment even more special.
“It is just a tremendous feeling to compete in front of Usain here in Tokyo, his coach is my coach and I know that both of them are very proud of me right now.
They were [telling me that] I am going to be the world champion; I have proved, in front of him, that I am a champion and I am very proud of that,” the new champion stated.
Everything falls into place
Finishing strong in the last 30 to 40 metres was something that had been an issue for the 24-year-old, but he looked up for it as he cruised to victory in his semi-final, holding his finger to his lips probably a message aimed at his critics.
Then everything came right on the night as he forced his way past Thompson in the last 20 metres of the final and comprehensively finished ahead of Lyles, executing his race to perfection.
After crossing the line he ripped his vest off his chest in celebration at achieving his long-term goal, demonstrating his fighting character, as Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” boomed over the tannoy to the delight of a sizeable contingent of Jamaican supporters.
“I have proved that I am a true competitor, that I have the determination of a champion; to win this gold medal is something special to me. Track and field is both mental and physical and I think I have mastered the mental part of it,” the gold medalist said.
