Bewerbungen » the 1993 game and five in 2006.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- It began in a rain-drenched 5,000-seat stadium on an island between Manhattan and Queens. Some Jamaican kid with the improbably awesome name of Bolt was in the Big Apple, not so much to announce his presence to the world, but to figure out who he was.We clambered into a van and headed over to Icahn Stadium. The headliner that night: American sprinter Tyson Gay.Or so we thought.Wearing a white top and black shoes -- nothing flashy -- Usain Bolt took off out of lane 4 for the mens 100 meters. He busted through the blue tape in 9.72 seconds. That was the new world record.The Beijing Olympics were still two months away, and Bolt was still wondering which race he would add to his specialty, the 200 meters. His coach had urged him to do the 400. At 6-foot-5, the thought went, Bolt was simply too awkward to burst from the starting blocks and build enough speed to win the shortest sprint.Everybody thought wrong.I wasnt really looking for a world record, Bolt said that night, but it was there for the taking.He took it again in Beijing. Then took it in the 200. Then again in the 4x100 relay. He closed out his Olympic career in style Friday night, making it 9 for 9 in the Olympic sprints.I watched that first race in New York, along with all 325 seconds he spent sprinting in the cumulative 23 races hes run at the Olympics -- in Beijing, London and, now, Rio de Janeiro.I watched track and field become fun again.Even at its best, the sprint game had always been a motley collection of unsmiling, sneering faces with loads of trouble seemingly lingering around every curve.Bolt wadded up that stereotype. Yes, sprinting is serious and very difficult work, he showed us. But this stuff can also be eminently watchable. Not just the reggae-filled, selfie-taking, To-The-World-posing after-parties, which Bolt has turned into performance art.The races themselves, too.Time after time, I saw him burst out of those blocks in the 100 and wondered, hows he going to pull this off? Most of the time, he had been losing at the halfway point. By the end, he was almost always far in front.I couldnt believe what I was seeing in Beijing, sitting 10 rows up from the finish line, when he hotdogged down the final eight steps of his 100, casting his arms to his side, then thumping his chest, then breaking his own world record nonetheless.Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee at the time, had the temerity to criticize Bolts joy, saying thats not the way we perceive a champion.As tone deaf and clueless as it sounded then, it makes even less sense today.Bolt has saved his sport and, in turn, kept the Olympics relevant -- not such a small deal in the wake of whats happened at these games, with their constant alerts about violence, disorganization and Ryan Lochte.Without Bolt, the final week of the last three Olympics would have been an endless loop of beach volleyball and hoops and wishing Michael Phelps or Americas latest gold-medal gymnast competed in those events, too. Track, supposedly the glue that brings the whole thing together, would be nothing more than a collection of pole vaulters, distance runners and others whos every accomplishment immediately falls under the lens of the ever-present doping microscope: Is anything you see in this stadium really to be believed?Yes, we should, and have, asked those questions of Bolt, too. Jamaicas anti-doping program is flawed. Who knows whats really going on there?But Bolt has insisted he is clean. He has done it in a serious tone. He has also insisted, at different times, that yams, Chicken McNuggets, his Aunt Lillys jerk pork and, yes, the nutrients from his pints of Guinness have powered him to the top.He has come close, a few times, to being knocked off, and Ive seen Bolt at his most vulnerable.Last year, back in Beijing for the world championships, he was injured and nowhere near his best.Justin Gatlin should have beaten him in the 100 but started leaning into the finish line too soon and Bolt persevered by one-hundredth of one second. In doing so, Bolt checked the box that anyone seeking to be called The Greatest must check at least once: Gritting one out when youre not at your best.Feeling he was the faster man, Gatlin said he had something in store for Bolt in the 200, a few nights later.You dont talk about my 200 meters like that, Bolt said. It was the most-telling sentence Ive ever heard him speak.He spanked Gatlin -- powering his long legs through a curve that was built for him, then going into hyperdrive down the straightway in a race he calls his baby. Bolt got upended by a Segway during the celebration. He popped right up. He delivers great theatre even when he doesnt mean to.In 2012, I saw him in Kingston, dealing with leg injuries and the remnants of an out-of-form preseason at Jamaicas version of Olympic trials.Yohan Blake beat him not once, but twice, that week.This, ladies and gentlemen, is the man to beat at the London Olympics, I wrote after the second win, speaking of Blake.Those are 13 words I wish I could have back.In Rio, as Friday night morphed into Saturday morning, I was in the press tribune, putting a bow on what Bolt insists will be his last run at the Olympics.From the darkened field below, the shouts of Usain Bolt, Usain Bolt started ringing out.I squinted, saw a tall man in yellow shirt and shorts hoisting a javelin, with a few dozen workers and cameramen surrounding him.The man took a few long steps, reared back and let the javelin fly. It pierced the grass, not all that far downfield, but a pretty nice throw nonetheless.Could that really have been The Worlds Fastest Man -- all wrung out, out of words, too tired to entertain anymore -- throwing the javelin down there at 2 in the morning for fun?It was.I couldnt take my eyes off him. Then again, who ever could?---National Writer Eddie Pells has covered more than 30 of Bolts races at Olympics and world championships, starting with his first world record in 2008 and ending Friday night in Rio de Janeiro. Cheap Rockies Jerseys Authentic . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Cheap Rockies Jerseys . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. http://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.com/ . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Wholesale Rockies Jerseys . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. TORONTO -- Aaron Sanchez didnt have his All-Star stuff on Saturday.No matter. The Blue Jays right-hander is still headed for San Diego.Victor Martinez hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning and the Tigers stopped Torontos seven-game winning streak, beating the Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.Following the game, Sanchez was named to the AL All-Star squad, replacing injured Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel.Thats a huge accomplishment, Sanchez said. There were so many other guys deserving of this award and to be mentioned with those people is a huge honor for me.Petco Park was also where Sanchez last made an All-Star team, as a California high schooler in 2009.Seven years later, to be in my first big league one, its kind of surreal, Sanchez said.Sanchez joins third baseman Josh Donaldson, designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, and outfielder Michael Saunders as active Blue Jays headed to the All-Star Game. Pitcher Marco Estrada had to give up his spot because of a bad back, but still plans to attend the game.Sanchez is 9-1 with a 2.97 ERA and has not lost since April 22 against Oakland.Hes had a tremendous first half, manager John Gibbons said. I think hes just scratching the surface, I really do.Sanchez had pitched eight innings in each of his previous two starts, both victories, but wasnt as sharp against the Tigers. He allowed two runs and five hits in five innings.Justin Upton had two hits and Andrew Romine reached base three times for the Tigers, who had lost seven of their previous nine against Toronto.Bruce Rondon (3-1) earned the win despite allowing a tying home run to Devon Travis in the seventh. Rondon missed the first two games of the series with flu-like symptoms.Justin Wilson pitched the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 24th save.Martinez broke a 2-all tie with a one-out drive off Jason Grilli (3-3).Matt Boyd allowed one run and four hiits in five innings for Detroit.dddddddddddd He was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to start in place of Daniel Norris, who has a strained right oblique.He did an excellent job, Ausmus said. He did exactly what we needed him to do.The Tigers loaded the bases against Sanchez with nobody out in the second but Toronto got a double play to limit the damage.Left fielder Ezequiel Carrera caught Steven Moyas fly ball and threw home in time to retire Martinez, who was attempting to tag up from third.Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked to load the bases a second time before Romine drove in the games first run when he was hit by a pitchSaltalamacchia made it 2-0 in the fourth with a two-out RBI single. Carrera cut it to 2-1 with an RBI triple in the fifth.FIVE SPOTThe Blue Jays have five All-Stars for the third time in team history. Toronto sent seven players to the 1993 game and five in 2006.START ME UPBlue Jays starters have held the opposition to three earned runs or fewer in 11 straight.BLESS THIS MESSThe Tigers have won six of the seven games in which theyve made multiple errors.TRAINERS ROOMBlue Jays: OF Jose Bautista (left big toe) has begun hitting off a tee, Gibbons said. Bautista has not played since June 16. There is no timetable for his return. ... INF Ryan Goins, who went on the DL with a strained forearm after pitching an inning of relief in Torontos 19-inning loss to Cleveland on July 1, has resumed throwing.UP NEXTTigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez (5-9, 6.52) allowed a season-worst seven runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 12-1 loss at Cleveland on July 5. Sanchez has not won as a starter since April 28 against Oakland.Blue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey (6-9, 4.10) has allowed at least one home run in each of his past six starts, surrendering 11 in that span. ' ' '