Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

Jamaican flags flutter at the 'Bird's Nest' after the women's 200-metre final in which Veronica Campbell-Brown won gold and Kerron Stewart bronze. - PHOTOS BY Charles Pitt/Freelance Photgrapher

IT'S HARD to believe that an eight-gold performance could be overshadowed at the Beijing Games, but that's exactly what sprint freak Usain Bolt has done.

Less than 24 hours after Superfish Michael Phelps nipped gold No. 8 at the wall in the 100-metre butterfly and broke the legendary Mark Spitz's record of seven at a single Olympics, Bolt started an historic march of his own at the stadium dubbed the 'Bird's Nest'.

The men's 100m final was supposed to be a three-man match race between world record holder Bolt, Jamaican former world record holder Asafa Powell and American world champion Tyson Gay.

An underdone Gay didn't even make the final, so that apparently left it a race of two between the Jamaicans, who had cruised into the final, to settle the matter of world's fastest man.

Bang! And in the blink of an eye the matter was settled as the 6' 5" Bolt obliterated the field and the world record in 9.69 seconds. As Powell loped in a disappointing fifth, Bolt was already into his celebratory routine and soaking up the adulation at the stadium.

Tall guys aren't supposed blast out of the blocks like that and it's not supposed to take 41 strides to hit the finish line ... but, apparently, it does now.

Little did we know it, but that 100m masterpiece was just a delicious appetiser for Bolt's preferred half-lap event.

From the start of the heats it was clear there were no real challengers to the young Jamaican, so he was basically running for the double - a feat not accomplished since the great Carl Lewis pulled it off in Los Angeles in 1984.

Bang! And a ridiculous 19.30 seconds later, 'Lightning' had not only doubled his fun but also cracked the seemingly untouchable world record of American Michael Johnson by .02 of a second.

Accused of showboating before reaching the line in the 100, Bolt went full throttle to the finish in the 200 and wrote himself into track and field immortality by becoming the first man to win the olympic sprint double with world records in both events.

Happy Birthday

As a nice touch to the proceedings, the crowd sang 'Happy Birthday' to the Jamaican who was to turn 22 the next day. To cap it all off , Bolt ran the third leg for the men's 4x100m relay team, which won gold yesterday in, you guessed it, a world-record time of 37.10. Nesta Carter started and handed off to Michael Frater, who passed to Bolt who, in turn, gave the baton to Powell, who finally reaped Olympic gold.

Maybe Bolt's the new prototype for sprinting or maybe, like Phelps, he's just an athletic freak.

Bolt's early blistering of the track in the 100 set in motion a record medal haul by the Jamaican team with the women also creating history.

In the women's 100, pocket-rocket Shelly-Ann Fraser blasted out of the blocks and led a fantastic one-two-two finish with the favoured Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson tying for the silver.

A well-rested Veronica Campbell-Brown, who narrowly missed a berth in the Olympic 100 at the national trials, showed she's in a class by herself in the 200 by emulating her feat in Athens four years ago and claiming the gold.

Stewart added to her medal collection with the bronze in that final while American Allyson Felix split a Jamaican one-two for the silver.

Melaine Walker joined the green-and-gold party with a brilliant gold in the 400m hurdles in Olympic record time while Shericka Williams collected a silver behind Great Britain's Christine Ohuruogu in the 400m flat. Hot favourite Sanya Richards, of the US, faded badly for the bronze.

Sadly, the Jamaica women bungled a baton change in the 4x100 relay and dropped what looked like another sure gold.

However, with Jamaica claiming all four sprint crowns at the Games, the balance of power has now shifted to this little island and it can no longer be regarded merely as a sprint factory but now a sprint powerhouse.

Feedback: tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com

Jamaica's gold medal-winning and world record-beating relay team of (from left) Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, Usain Bolt and Michael Frater. - AP

Jamaica's Melaine Walker (right) crosses the finish line to win the gold in the women's 400m hurdles. - AP

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown celebrates winning the gold in the women's 200-metre final.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt (right) crosses the finish line to win gold in the men's 100-metre race in a world record 9.69 seconds. - AP

Usain Bolt soaks up the atmosphere after breaking the world record and winning gold in the men's 200m final. - PHOTOS BY Charles Pitt/Freelance Photgrapher

Jamaica's (from left) Kerron Stewart, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Sherone Simpson discus their botched baton exchange in yesterday's 4 x 100m relay final

Shericka Williams celebrates her silver-medal run in the women's 400m with the Jamaican flag. - AP

Women's 100-metre gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser (left) and joint silver winners Kerron Stewart (centre) and Sherone Simpson after their historic feat in the women's 100m final.