Usain Bolt's Double

It really bothers me when people, especially people within the track & field community talk about Usain Bolt becoming the first man to complete the 100m-200m double in consecutive Olympic Games. It diminishes the greatness of what the man just did.

The identification of Bolt as the first man to repeat the double carries an implication that other men have tried--or have been in the position to try--doing it before him. In reality, only one man had been in position to attempt repeating the double. See, prior to Sunday, Carl Lewis was the only man to repeat as Olympic 100m champion. Through 30 Olympic Games, Usain Bolt is only the second man to win the 100m twice, consecutive or not. Last night, Bolt became the only man to win the Olympic 200m twice. Those are the accomplishments. Bringing up the repeated double without putting his victories in the individual races into proper context hides the greatness of his feats. Context is the key whenever one tries to describe or identify greatness.

This is a pet peeve of mine. I remember baseball announcers marveling at Barry Bonds becoming the only player to hit 500 homeruns and steal 500 bases without ever saying how close anyone else ever came to doing it themselves. In truth, Bonds is the only man with 350 homers and 350 steals. That makes the 500-500 more impressive.

So let us look at Bolt's unprecedented defense of his 200m championship as the amazing thing that it is. Let us look at his repeat in the 100m as something that had only been accomplished by a man who may be the greatest--until tonight?--Olympian of all time. We can look at these two things together, in context, and only then can people understand what it means for Usain Bolt to have repeated the 100m-200m double.