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| Bolt: Disappointed and shocked. He knows what he did. |
It is so ironic. The modern and current face of athletics in the world today is Jamaica’s Usain "De blitzkrieg" Bolt. Seeing him beat the gun and disqualified was the natural thing to do. That is about standards, integrity and rules. I shuddered that were this to be in Nigeria, no one dare stands by integrity, rules or standards. Yes.These values are alien here.
A reporter’s capture was thus: “The shock silenced the stadium and for the briefest moment the bang of the starter's pistol echoed loud in the ears of the dumbstruck crowd. By that point Usain Bolt was several strides down the track. He had torn his top off and thrown it to the floor and was scowling at the sky. Everyone else was confused but he knew exactly what he had done.
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| Usain Bolt: If he were a Nigerian who will disqualify him? |
In the end the 100m final of the World Championships started without any of the eight fastest men in the world this year. Two were suspended for doping, two were injured, three failed to qualify and Bolt, the most important of all, was standing on the sidelines, racked with anger and disbelief.
Bolt did not stop to talk. Once he found a way off the track he was almost as quick to escape the stadium as he had been to leave his blocks. Someone must have collared him in the car park, because later on the International Association of Athletics Federations released the briefest of quotes. "I have nothing to say right now. I need some time." He has five days, then he will be back on the track to defend his 200m title. "How will I go? It's on Friday night? Then we'll have to see on Friday." And then he was off into the night.
At the national athletics meet in Calabar this year, we had a similar event where Damola Osayomi beat the gun and was expected to be ejected. For where? A fellow reporter with a big newspaper was quoted to have said: “Where? No one will ever near her”. So it came to pass. No one neared her. A favourite disqualified for beating the gun? Who dares do such a thing? I also remember how Veronica Campbell was similarly punished in the Jamaican national athletics championships for beating the gun some two years ago.Were Campbell or Bolt to be Nigerians, no one would have dared to disqualify them.
Hi Jide, don't waste your saliva. Naija is on a different planet. I was once in London when Prince Edward's driver was caught over speeding. The Police stopped and booked him with his oga, Prince Edward, in the car. The next day it was all over the papers. Can you try it here? Even with ordinary 'korofo', I mean a rankless military officer ie Army, Navy or Air Force how much more any of our legislathieves, sorry legislators? We have a long way to go here. God bless us all as we celebrate with our Muslim brothers and sisters Tuesday and Wednesday. Cheers
ReplyDeleteJide, I am ready to bet my grandpa's land for village on this. Do you really mean that Osayomi beat the gun in Calabar and was allowed to continue when King Bolt was disqualified for the sameoffencein Daegu? Bolt that the whole world wanted to watch?
ReplyDeleteIf I were on that track with her I would beat the gun three times before we can now run that race and see whether Ogba would have disqualified me.
Shame! Big shame!!
Keep the work up.