KEY POINTS:
I had a rare experience last night. I sat in the Bird's Nest stadium - surely one of the great stadia of the world - and watched the men's 100m second round with France's stunning Marie-Jose Perec.
Well, not exactly with her, you understand, but she did sit next to me. She seemed nice. She said hello.
Well, actually, it was more like a look that said: Sod off, white boy...but at least she noticed me.
Perec, you may recall, was a model as well as pursuing her remarkable athletic career that ended in a bit of controversy around the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She won the women's 400m gold medal in Barcelona, 1992. She then dumbfounded everyone by not only winning the 400m gold in Atlanta but also the 200m gold - becoming the first athlete of either gender to win back-to-back 400m gold medals and she was the first to win the 200m-400m double at a non-boycotted Olympics.
The other thing that Perec made me think about was that no-one ever queried her about performance-enhancing substances.
In fact, I seem to recall her getting a bit haughty about it. In Barcelona when asked if she thought she could ever break Marita Koch's world record of 47.60s - one of those impossibly quick records that makes you wonder - Perec said: "I think the world record is the race I ran today. I don't think anyone has run under 49s until now [she ran 48.83s]. To run this race today, I didn't need any 'biological preparation'."
Ouch. Kind of a hint that the other runners did, really.
But I have to say that when you are watching the men's 100m heats, there's a thought that keeps buzzing round your head: What's he on? What's he on? And...what's he on?
The only race or sport more drug-discredited than the Olympic men's 100m is the Tour de France and yet, somehow, the 100m maintains its compulsive viewing status.
All these athletes, all rippling with muscles, with six-packs you could smash bricks on and shoulders and neck muscles that Muhammad Ali would have been proud of. You can't help but wonder what little bottle they came out of.
Still, I have seen the future of sprinting and it's a Bolt from the blue. Yes, bold prediction time. Usain Bolt of Jamaica will win the 100m gold medal at Beijing. With Marie-Jose by my side, we watched Bolt canter to the line in his second-round heat in 9.92s. I mean, the man was barely trying. He's got legs like Phar Lap and he's built how the current All Black No 6 should be - 1.96m tall, strong and so fast he could arrive at the tackled ball before the tackle's been made.
I wonder if Graham Henry'd be interested. Sonny Bill who?
Anyway, Bolt's performance was the most gobsmacking of the night. He was loping, for Heaven's sake, about 50m down the track, looking around like he'd heard an interesting song and he wondered where the nice music was coming from. And he still did 9.92s.
Hello? I've seen slower bullet trains. His fellow Jamaican, Asafa Powell, was also impressive in running 10.02s and Tyson Gay (USA) was only running to qualify when he finished second in another heat. I don't think Gay is going to foot it with these two. I'm picking a Jamaican one-two with Bolt one.
After Bolt won his heat, I raised my eyebrows at Marie-Jose (see, we are getting on well, aren't we?) and we discussed the ease of his win. Well, I said, with my best cool grin: "Easy, huh?" and she ignored me. Her mobile phone must have rung or something.
Perec's career finished in that controversy in Sydney 2000 when she turned up for the Olympics and a showdown with Australia's Cathy Freeman, whom she beat for the gold in the 400m in Atlanta. It would have been one of the showdowns of the Games - but Perec left the village and the Olympics, claiming she had been victimised by the Australian media.
Most people translated that as she thought she wouldn't win and it was a sad stain on a fantastic career - but very French. I forgave her last night. I have been victimised by the Aussie media too, but usually only when it's my round and they want to make sure I don't weasel out of it.
But the point is that Bolt, who until he broke the world record had only run the 100m a few times - he is a specialist 200m athlete - was humming and hahing about whether to run the double. He did; he didn't hide - and he set up a three-way clash that just might restore a bit of credibility to the 100m.
If they stay clean. Out of the last five Olympic 100m champions, three have either fallen foul of a drugs test at the Olympics or at other times in their career. The defending champion, Justin Gatlin, isn't in Beijing because he was banned.
Three out of six, anyone?
Photo / AP
