Real rockstar takes centrestage

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Rio de Janeiro, August 14

Ladies and gentlemen, Usain Bolt has entered the building, and you are officially licensed to go crazy now.

The people at the athletics stadium have eyes for only one man — their cameras, not their eyes, actually. The modern man views all spectacular and dazzling phenomenon through mobile phone cameras, because all amazing things that are experienced live are now meant to be recorded, more than to be viewed and enjoyed. Eyes are rapidly going out of fashion to experience celebrities and the general awesomeness of life.

Michael Phelps has got the golden numbers, but Bolt is the real rockstar here in town. Bolt is the man people have come to see. The organisers know that, and even his preliminary races are scheduled toward the end of the athletics session.

Even before he emerges to the eye, a clamour builds up at the massive Olympic Stadium, called the Engenhao; helpfully, to build up the hysteria, live images of him walking toward the track are beamed on the huge screens at the stadium, which seats 60,000 people.

The workers and staff at the stadium had been urging people to not sit or stand in the steep steps of the giant Engenhao; but as the time comes for Bolt to race, the staff and workers are mesmerised. They leave their posts and swell into the stairways, gateways, or any place from where they can see and record a yellow figure whirr past.

Distant rumble

The sound begins as a distant rumble of an aeroplane and then amplifies quickly as Bolt, now a speck of yellow in one corner at the floor of the stadium, emerges behind the athletics track. People go crazy on the sight of this speck — mobile phones were already ready, and thousands of cameras start rolling. People simultaneously shout and smile, holding aloft their recording devices. Many prefer to turn around and take selfies, looking at their own beaming faces on the phone screens, with the small yellow speck of Bolt far away and down near the starting blocks.

The craziness is infections, and it’s not surprising, even though Bolt has done nothing yet to astound the crowd here. He’s been barely seen, and just as a speck in the corner of the field; but the madness anticipates what he’s going to do — he’s actually going to saunter through this qualification race, even looking around to his left near the finishing line, just to see how the others are doing.

Bolt loves to play the fool. He clowns around, and the people love it. He jogs down the track to warm up and get his stride oiled. People love that. He raises his arms, seeking a noisy build-up to the race, and people oblige. He runs his fingers over his scalp, which is shaved because “he’s trying to look younger”. He grins and smiles, and he puts his finger to his lips when a loud “Shhh...” is whispered over the loudspeakers to quieten the crowd, seconds before the start.

The starting gun goes off, and off goes Bolt. But he’s a bit slow today. Not a great start, but he’s not a starter, he’s a finisher. He seems to be in the fifth position if not further back. But no matter. He’s got long strides, which allow him to cover 100 metres in 42 giant strides. His legs start propelling, thrusting him to the front. Almost in the blink of the eye, he’s got a big lead, and then it’s over.

“Bolt, Bolt, Bolt!!” people scream. They bang on the seats, they shout, they stomp their feet, they clap with empty plastic bottles. All this while, they don’t neglect to record this moment.

Later, after the Jamaican is gone and normalcy is restored, people go down to the track and pose in the trademark Bolt fashion — feet placed wide apart, legs bent at the knees, and one arm stretched out, the other bent, and the index fingers pointing upward. This pose is probably more famous than the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty. Everyone is dong it here.

We’ve seen this in sober Beijing, we’ve seen this in reticent London — Bolt incites unreason, old men and children are alike in going crazy with joy at the sight of a very tall man running very, very fast.

Now Bolt is in Rio de Janeiro, going for a treble-double — gold in both 100m and 200m for the third straight Olympics, and the Brazilians, never shy away from crazy celebrations, love this madness that passes in seconds.