A bittersweet race

"Oh God! Usain no!" shouted Curtis, a fraction of a second after the second gun was fired signalling a false start in the final of the men's 100 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

"The man false start, star. Mi can't believe it. Jah know, the man now have nobody beside him in the race and the man false start," Curtis added as a stunned silence replaced the buzz which less than one minute earlier had engulfed the Usain Bolt Tracks and Records sports bar in the Market Place along Constant Spring Road in St Andrew.

Curtis was among a small group of persons who had turned up at the sports bar to watch the early morning final and expected to see another gold-medal performance from the 'big man'.

Close to tears

As a clearly disappointed Bolt pulled off his shirt and made his way from the track, some persons seemed close to tears inside the sports bar.

"Mi can't believe this, mi can't believe this," one man muttered constantly, even as the other runners returned to their starting blocks.

"Mi still in shock and can't believe this. Him nuh have nobody fi run against, a maybe nerves. Mi don't know what to say right now, but it look like him pave the way fi Yohan (Blake) get a gold," Curtis said.

That reflected the mood of the rest of the patrons inside the sports bar, and screams for Yohan started as soon as the athletes left their blocks.

The sports bar exploded as Blake crossed the finish line in front, even though the disappointment of Bolt's false start lingered.

"A star has died and a star is born. Not really died, but I think the false start paved the way for Yohan's rise to stardom," said Fagan as the cheers died down.

"I think it was not destined for Usain, but it was destined for Blake," Fagan added.

With the race out of the way, persons turned to the wonderful breakfast served at Tracksand Records with animated conversations about Blake's winning time of 9.92 seconds, which changed sorrow into joy.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com