Usain Bolt Honored In Jamaica

Video: Usain Bolt returns home for a well deserved rest - ITN NEWS

The Jamaican government has awarded gold medalist, Usain Bolt, the Order of Jamaica, officially making him an honourable. The government has also given him an ambassadorship, in addition to renaming Highway 2000 after him as well.

Usain Bolt

Congrats to Usain, well done, but I have a question. Does this mean we have to pay Usain a toll when we get on the Highway. Just kidding.

Jamaica honors Bolt with ambassadorship, highway

Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:55pm EDT - KINGSTON (Reuters) - Jamaica will grant diplomatic privileges to triple Olympic and world champion sprinter Usain Bolt and name a highway after him, Prime Minister Bruce Golding said on Tuesday.

Golding said Bolt's extraordinary performance for Jamaica had earned him the right to be called "ambassador" with full diplomatic privileges, including a diplomatic passport.

Highway 2000, linking several of the Caribbean island's key cities, will be renamed the Usain Bolt Highway and the runner will be given Jamaica's fourth highest national award, Golding announced in Parliament.

"I have advised the governor general to confer on Mr. Bolt the Order of Jamaica for his outstanding achievements for Jamaica at the highest level of athletic competition," Golding said...

http://www.reuters.com

Caster Semenya Withdraws From Race

Video: Semenya media reports slammed - ITN NEWS

Due to speculation about her gender, gold medalist, Caster Semenya, has withdrawn from competition, over a leaked report in the Sydney Morning Herald, alleging she is a hermaphrodite.

The 18-year-old female runner has been subjected to a maelstrom of criticism, regarding her athletic prowess, which many are attributing to male and female genetic factors.

It's sad that she has withdrawn, as she is a great athlete, but there is a legal angle in this controversy, which could create court case, after court case and a mountain of legal fees. This is undoubtedly a concern.

Cheer up, girl! You are still number one!

Caster Semenya Withdraws From Competition Amid Speculation

Published: September 11, 2009 - JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Caster Semenya, the world champion runner from South Africa, has withdrawn from a weekend race amid speculation about her sex.

The South African Press Association quoted her coach, Michael Seme, as saying Semenya would not take part in the 4,000 meters at the national cross country championships in Pretoria on Saturday. He had said earlier this week that Semenya would run.

Asked Friday why Semenya withdrew, Seme said she was “not feeling well.”...

http://www.nytimes.com

Semenya's Sex Called Into Question Again

The Sydney Morning Herald published a report today, stating World Championship gold medalist Caster Semenya, is a hermaphrodite with external female genitalia, no womb or ovaries and internal male testes.

The report has not been confirmed by the International Association of Athletics Federations, but the news has to be very upsetting for the 18-year-old track star, who left her competition in the dust at the World Championships last month in Berlin, Germany.

She should not be stripped of her medal, as it does not appear to be a conscious decision to cheat and she has suffered enough. The IAAF previously stated she can keep her medal.

Secret of Semenya's sex stripped bare

September 11, 2009 - 12:17AM - THE world champion 800m runner Caster Semenya has been revealed to have male and female sexual organs, posing an ethical and political quandary for the sport's ruling body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and her home nation, South Africa.

Extensive physical examinations of Semenya, who is just 18 and from a remote village in the country's far north, has shown the athlete is technically a hermaphrodite. Medical reports indicate she has no ovaries, but rather has internal male testes, which are producing large amounts of testosterone...

Late last night the IAAF was trying to contact the athlete to inform her of the results. After her domination of the world titles in Berlin last month, Semenya was given exhaustive blood and chromosome tests as well as a gynecological examination...

"This is a medical issue and not a doping issue where she was deliberately cheating," an IAAF spokesman, Nick Davies, told the Herald.

"These tests do not suggest any suspicion of deliberate misconduct but seek to assess the possibility of a potential medical condition which would give Semenya an unfair advantage over her competitors. There is no automatic disqualification of results in a case like this."...

http://www.smh.com.au

Usain Bolt Sets Another World Record

Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, fresh off his record setting 100 meter run, set another record at the the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany.

Bolt set a new record in the 200 meter final, winning the race in 9.19 seconds. The IAAF has been sure to emphasize, due to his incredible speed, Bolt has been rigorously tested for steroids, with all his tests coming back negative. His fellow sprinters also faced scrutiny and all their tests came back negative as well.

Well done to all who participated.

Bolt Crushes His Own 200-Meter Record

Published: August 20, 2009 - Usain Bolt clearly does not require the intensity of a close race to obliterate his own world records.

After being pushed close to the finish line in the 100 on Sunday by Tyson Gay as Bolt won in a record-setting 9.58 seconds, Bolt had to do the pushing himself in the final straightaway of the 200 on Thursday. Running alone — strikingly alone — in lane 5 in the final straightaway, he showed no interest in cruising to the finish. Instead, he sprinted through, and the result was a time of 19.19 seconds: 11-hundredths of a second faster than the world record he established a year ago at the Beijing Olympics.

It has been a remarkably productive, efficient performance for Usain Bolt at these world championships. He has raced two finals and broken two of his own world records, with the 4x100 relay still to come. And he has now matched his sprint double at last year’s Olympics with another, even faster double on the blue track here.

Bolt, who will turn 23 on Friday, arrived at the Olympic Stadium wearing a T-shirt that read “Ich Bin Ein Berlino,” a lighthearted take on the famous line from President John F. Kennedy’s speech here in 1963. Kennedy’s “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”) was a show of rhetorical support for West Berlin...

http://www.nytimes.com

Usain Bolt Sets New World Record

Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, smashed the world record that was his own, running the 100 meters in Berlin Germany, in 9.58 seconds, which was incredible. Congrats to him and all the sprinters, as you are all the best in the world to have even made it there to the finals.

Due to his astonishing speed, Usain is the kind of dude you'd want on your team during a relay... or bank robbery (just kidding).

Superman Bolt: 9.58 100m!

Sunday, August 16, 2009 - Far behind in second was Tyson Gay, whose 9.71 would be the fastest ever were it not for Bolt. Teammate Asafa Powell (who has run 9.72, third fastest of all time) came in behind Gay. So in this race Bolt smashed his own record from Beijing and destroyed the #2 and #3 fastest sprinters of all time. Bolt is the greatest of all time!

http://www.technologyreview.com