In the run-up to the London Olympics Glen Mills faced one sweet problem on whether to pursue Usain Bolt for further glory or prepare Yohan Blake to break the final barrier.
Now the Games is over and Mills, the coach of Racers Track Club in Jamaica, where both Bolt and Blake train, can happily look back into it to see both of his boys doing exactly what they were expected to do.
While Bolt completed his journey towards becoming a living legend, Blake took the stepping stone, winning two silvers behind his senior partner and passing him the baton for relay win.
After their world record win in 4×100 metre relay, Bolt wanted to keep the baton with him but was denied the opportunity by the Games’ officials who argued it was against the rule.
The officials even went to the scale of threatening Jamaica to be declared disqualified if he does not return the baton before they got back their senses and fulfilled his wish.
His team-mate Blake later explained that Bolt wanted his baton to have a signature of all Jamaican athletes, who contributed to the stunning 36.84 seconds record relay win.
With his age now close to 26, Bolt is unlikely to have the same sparkle in Rio de Janeiro and he hinted several times that lack of motivation could drive him out of athletics anytime soon.
So one cannot really blame Bolt for his simple wish, though it is not actually permitted by law. His gold medals are not there to share, so he needed something else materialistic to pass on to his next generation.
In his immediate reaction after the race was over Blake joked that this group
of Jamaican athletes are not humans and dropped from space like comedy king Mr Bean. ‘Mr Bean is not a normal guy. We are not normal guys. We are from space, I am from Mars.’
On any other day this could be viewed as an audacity. But no one took it in that way as it was not difficult to see the lighter part of it. Bolt scolded Blake for saying these crazy words and added: ‘If he keeps talking like that, someone is going to put him in a straight jacket one day.’
From Mars or any other planet, Bolt, however, believes his next generation of athletes will emulate his feat in the coming years and at the moment his best bet is Blake himself.
Since his defeat in Jamaican trial, Bolt reminded Blake all the time how he was going to avenge this in London but at the same time also motivated him to be prepared for the future.
‘I have always told him that he has born in a wrong time and London is going to be my Olympics,’ Bolt said on several occasions. ‘But he is now only 22 and will be on top of his form in Rio.’
Blake has no reason to disagree. He handed Bolt the baton in the relay to complete the world record and has the chance to take it back from him with his signature to carry Bolt’s legacy if he is not around in four years time in the Brazilian capital.
-With New Age input
