Donovan BaileyThe Globe and Mail
The 12th World Championships in Athletics open today in Berlin in the city's famous Olympic Stadium, the holy grail of track and field for eight days starting today.
Maurice Greene, Linford Christie and many past 100-metre champions, including me, are here, but the talk of the town is Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt, the man who has put track and field on its heels as he rewrites the record books every time he competes.
The showdown between Bolt and American Tyson Gay in the 100 and 200 metres are two of the most anticipated events in the history of our great sport. These two athletes have not met this year. Both are undefeated. Gay comes in with the fastest times in both events this year.
He and the rest of the U.S. squad will wear the initials of the legendary Jesse Owens on their uniforms as a tribute to Owens's four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, held in this stadium.
But it'll take more than channelling the spirit of Owens to stop Bolt, who has cruised through some less than desirable weather over the last couple of months (cool, rainy conditions at the Golden League meet in Paris last month and a downpour at the Festival of Excellence in Toronto in June) with times that have left his competitors seeing stars.
Like golf and tennis, if you don't win the majors, you're just another competitor. Bolt is the Olympic champion and world record holder and needs the world championship to continue his legacy. In the same breath, Gay has his world championship titles from Osaka, Japan, in 2007 and would like nothing more than to repeat here, avenging his loss the last time he met Bolt, in Beijing.
The incredible times of 9.69 and 19.30 seconds are the world records set by Bolt last year in Beijing and both he and Gay have acknowledged it might take those times or better to win. Both are fit, healthy and confident.
There are others competing in the 100 metres, believe it or not. Bolt's teammate Asafa Powell, the only other 9.7 man in the field, could play spoiler. He and four other Jamaican athletes were reinstated to the team Wednesday after the International Association of Athletics Federations intervened when the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association banned him and the other athletes for missing a mandatory training camp last week.
Young Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake, 19, Bolt's training partner, can sneak in for a medal. Other players are Churandy Martina from the Netherlands Antilles, Richard Thompson from Trinidad and Tobago, Daniel Bailey (no relation) from Antigua and Barbuda and the other Americans, of course.
The best and fastest ever eight-man field will be in the final, and barring injury or natural disaster, watch for Gay and Powell to get out of the blocks fast and Lightning Bolt putting the big hammers down at about 45 metres for the win.
The men's 200 metres on Aug. 20 will be a closer finish. Again, expect Gay, who's a smaller man at 5 foot 11, to get a fast start. But once Bolt unfolds his long legs and gets his 6-foot-5 frame in full motion, the race will be over. We should see the Jamaican crossing the finish line in close to world-record time. Watch for a new twist on his bow-and-arrow victory celebration from Beijing.
Gay will come in for silver or bronze, with likely a couple of other Americans, Shawn Crawford and Wallace Spearmon, in the mix for a medal as well as Martina from the Netherlands Antilles. Both Spearmon and Martina missed out on medals in Beijing after being disqualified for stepping out of their lanes. They'll be looking for redemption, but the day will belong to Bolt.