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Bolt is something of a sprinting experiment, defying assumptions that tall men can't run the 100. Silver medalist Richard Thompson said Bolt shattered the stereotypes of sprinters as "short, strong and stocky." At 6-foot-5, 193 pounds, with rapid turnover and the ability to explode from the blocks, Bolt is the "beginning of something else again," Thompson said.

Such talk inevitably leads to speculation about doping. And there is a perception that Bolt came out of nowhere this season. That's not entirely true, or fair.

For years, the track world has expected much from Bolt, but his records were supposed to come in the 200 meters. He won the world junior championship in the event at 15 and a 2007 world championship silver medal. If anything, those who saw Bolt as a teenager wondered what took so long.

"He's been running very well since he was very young," Thompson said. "It was just a matter of time before he was running these times."

Bolt's countryman Asafa Powell, the former world-record holder who was supposed to challenge the phenom, finished fifth, another in a long line of disappointments at major meets. That didn't stop him from praising his teammate. "Usain is spectacular," Powell said. "You just have to look out for what's coming next for him."

Indeed, everybody in the stadium spent the evening speculating on how fast Bolt can go. Everyone except Bolt. "I don't know," he said.

He kept insisting he was only there to win, not to set a record.

After all, Bolt already owned the 100 record, running 9.72 in May against Gay in New York. In response, Gay put up his American record at the Olympic trials before injuring his hamstring in a 200 heat.

Gay said after the loss in May, he knew he'd need to run 9.6 to beat Bolt, and that he'd prepared himself mentally to do it at the trials. So Gay's absence in the final disappointed everybody, including Bolt.

"I've been telling Tyson all season that I wanted him to get better," Bolt said. "Because if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best."

Now, there's no question who is the best.

"Toscanini said Marian Anderson's contralto voice comes along once a century," said Dr. Herb Elliott, a physician for the Jamaican Olympic team. "A guy like Usain Bolt comes along once a century."

Maybe Bolt's bib number, 2163, was a hint at how far into the future it will be before we see his like again. In any case, Jamaicans won't think about tomorrow for awhile. They'll just enjoy what one of their own did in the present.

"In Kingston," Elliott said, "business stopped today."