Kirani James Wins First Ever Gold For Grenada

19-year-old Kirani James won the first ever gold medal for the island of Grenada, as he stormed to the finish line recording a personal best of 43.94 seconds, well clear of fellow teenager Luguelin Santos in second. Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago too the bronze.

James said: "It means a lot. Grenada will be going crazy right now." Since 2008, James has won Commonwealth Youth gold, World Youth gold, the World Juniors, World Championships and now the Olympics.

With this display, he becomes the eighth fastest man in history over one lap. This is a new generation of 400m men. In an event traditionally dominated by the United States, not a single American made the final.

Silver medallist Santos of the Dominican Republic is just 18 years old, while only one man in the field - the Bahamas's Chris Brown - is over 24. Brown, fourth in Beijing and in two previous world finals, was once again just a place off the podium. 

But it was James, just as it was in Daegu a year ago, who is the talk of this event. He already has a street in the Grenadian capital of St George named after him. Having carried his country's flag into the opening ceremony, he can expect a hero's reception when he returns home.

The future of the event may also be his. Michael Johnson's incredible world record of 43.18 secs has stood for 13 years. While that remains well out of James's reach for now, his own talent and the competition engendered by his youthful rivals could one day see him do what few thought possible and break that Beamonesque mark.

Foreign Born British Athletes Summoned to Learn National Anthem

Don’t know if this has anything to do with the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee celebration and the patriotism, which goes along with it.  However, all foreign-born track athletes competing for Britain at the London Olympics are learning the words to "God Save the Queen" in an effort to silence critics, questioning the loyalty of athletes who previously represented other countries.

"They know the words, or they will," said Britain's track and field coach Charles van Commenee on Wednesday. "I'm not going to rehearse everybody because we have 90 athletes, but people that matter ... let's say the relevant ones."  Van Commenee, who is Dutch, said he only knows the first two lines of his own national anthem.

American-raised hurdler Tiffany Porter was at the center of the so-called "Plastic Brits" debate after she was selected Britain's captain for the indoor world championships in March. Porter was asked at the championships in Istanbul, Turkey, if she knew the words to Britain's national anthem and was prodded to sing it. She refused, saying she knew the words and that reciting it was unnecessary. She went on to win a silver medal in the 60-meter hurdles.

Porter was born and raised in the United States to a British mother and a Nigerian father. She's held a British passport since she was a baby and represented the United States as a junior before opting for Britain last year.

When the London Games begin on July 27, Porter will be one of eight foreign-born track athletes on the 90-member athletics team to compete for Britain.  Cuban-born triple jumper Yamile Aldama won a gold medal for Britain at the indoor championships.  Aldama is married to a Briton but previously chose to compete for Sudan because of complications in gaining British citizenship. She finally got her British passport two years ago.

Usain Bolt Gets Serious About London Olympics

With less than two months to go before the world's fastest man Usain Bolt contends for gold at the London Olympics, Bolt Bolt is slowing down, but only off the track.   The charismatic 25 year old triple Olympic champion is realizing he doesn’t have the energy levels he once enjoyed. Late nights are out, and getting to bed by 11 p.m. is definitely in.

“When you become older it’s the fact you don’t have enough energy like once,” Bolt said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday. “I could stay up all night and (then) go running, but now it’s not the same. You need enough rest, and for me that’s OK because you learn. You live and you learn.”

Bolt who is infamous for his laid back attitude and fun-loving yet spontaneous antics is quick to tell you that he is "dead serious," when it comes to what actually matters -defending his three Olympic gold medals in London in August.

“You have to look at it seriously,” he said. “I have a goal. I want to be a legend. And this Olympics, I think, will be the one to make it (so) because it’s in London, it’s central, it’s where everyone is watching.”

Track and field fans on a global level are watching every move Bolt makes these days. Insiders and fans alike were not real impressed with Bolt's start to the European season last month. Bolt clocked a downright slow — by his standards — 10.04 in winning a 100-meter race in Ostrava, Czech Republic. However, the world record-holder’s was back on track the past Thursday night, when he electrified the Diamond League meet in Rome with a season-best 9.76.

“Take my eye off the ball? It was just one of those things,” Bolt recalled in a London hotel, wearing a Bob Marley T-shirt. “I came to Europe and didn’t get enough rest and it was an off day in (Ostrava).

“Now that I know that if I don’t get enough sleep in Europe ... I will be off form so I am happy it happened when it happened,” Bolt said. “I wouldn’t call it a blip, but a learning experience.”

And what he learned all goes back to getting a good night’s sleep.  “I try not to sleep in the days, I really try to stay up because that’s the problem,” he said. “Normally when I felt I want sleep I just go to sleep in the middle of the day, and then when night comes I’m wide awake. “So now I try to stay awake — wide awake — until probably 11, have a shower and just go to bed.”

Bolt's new quest to get enough rest isn’t going to take anything away from his Olympic experience.  He is insisted on staying with the Jamaican team in the Olympic village among the thousands of other athletes during the July 27-Aug.12 games, even though his star status could possibly become a distraction.  Staying somewhere more private just wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable.

“People who stay outside the Olympic Village for me are weird because why wouldn’t you want to stay with your friends, with your teammates, laugh and just have fun — play dominos, just chit chat about everything, motivate the other person,” Bolt said. “There are so many things to do in the village and it keeps, it gets you closer to your teammates, it gets you closer to people. You might pick up a few things.”

Bolt has yet to visit the Olympic Stadium where he hopes to “stamp my name in history.” He hasn’t been avoiding the track. He just doesn’t seem to have been invited.  “I would love to go there,” he said. “I like to walk the track at least once. ... For me, I stop at the 100 meters and look down the straight and then visualize for 20 seconds, 1 minute, just to think about it.”

On Friday, he had to think about it all from a hotel just a seven-minute train ride away from the Olympic Stadium after striking some of his trademark poses on the runway during a launch of the Jamaica gear he’ll be wearing at the games. The green, yellow and black Puma outfit was designed by Bob Marley’s daughter, Cedella Marley.

Bolt established himself as a global superstar at the 2008 Beijing Games, winning both the 100 and 200-meter titles in world-record times, and helping Jamaica win gold and set another world record in the 400-meter relay. His latest world records of 9.58 in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200 were set at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.  Most people are taking for granted that he’ll win both races again in London — the only question is: how fast can he go?

While he’s likely to go full speed to the finish line this time, there’s no way that Bolt’s natural instinct to be an entertainer will be subdued.  “I give them a show, they don’t mind,” he said. “It’s not like I run, wave and go home. It’s fun at the start line, I’m laughing ... there are so many different ways I interact with the crowds. It makes it easy for me, and easy for them to love me.”

Usian Bolt slower than lightening but faster than thunder in Ostrava

Track and Field star and Olympian, Usian Bolt won the 100 meters in subpar fashion yesterday at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech, Rupublic.  The Jamaican star athlete had a slow start, but managed to forge ahead nonetheless in the final meters for the win. Bolt failed on an another attempt to improve his season’s best of 9.82 at a track meet, held in Jamaica earlier this May. Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis took second place in 10.19, followed by Darvis Patton of the United States in 10.22. Jamaica's Lerone Clarke ran a 10.26 race to finish in fourth place.

"It's hard to explain," Bolt said. "I don't really know what went wrong." "I was looking to come here for a good time. I guess it's one of those days," he said. "I just never got going."  Prior to the race, Bolt stated that he was working on his now infamous slow start, in hopes of breaking his world records in the 100 and 200 at the London games. Bolt, who won three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games was competing for the sixth time in Ostrava.  

The runners were forced to start twice after Simon Magakwe had a false, however, that would not be the case for Bolt, who is oh too familiar with jumping before the starter's gun.  As was the case, when he failed to defend his world championship title in Daegu, South Korea, having been disqualified due false start.  

Next stop for Bolt will be the the Diamond League meets in Rome on May 31 and Oslo, Norway, on June 7, before returning to Jamaica for the national trials.  He will return to Europe to run the in the 200m at the Diamond League in mOnaco on July 20, which will be his last race before the Olympics games starts a week later.  In the meantime, he said he will seek advice from his coach to decipher what went wrong in Ostrava.