Bolt-mania spills over as Jamaica wins 4x100m

PHILADELPHIA - As Usain Bolt emerged from the anonymity of the infield paddock area and within view of everyone seated in the stands of a jam-packed Franklin Field, a roar rose from the crowd unlike any heard in the 116-year history of the Penn Relay Carnival.

Yellow inflatable thundersticks were banging throughout "Whoop Corner" on the southeast end of the stadium and Jamaican flags were being waved seemingly at every turn.

Events had to be halted for the din to die down.

Athletes warming up on the infield, turned off their iPod's because they couldn't hear the music in their ears.

Even the other Jamaican athletes stopped their warm-ups to soak in the experience.

"It's the same thing at home," Shelly Ann-Fraser, Jamaica's Olympic gold medalist in the women's 100m, said with a broad smile as the cheers began to die down. "Actually it's worse. At home, the fans actually run down onto the track. There isn't enough security on the island to stop that."

The world's longest continuing track meet got its official indoctrination to Bolt-mania on Saturday.

The presence of the Olympic and world sprint champion brought out a record crowd of 54,310 for the final day of the three-day meet, while nearly 450 members were credentialed with another 300 turned away.

And Bolt did not disappoint his captive audience, running an astounding 8.79-second anchor leg to power the Jamaica Gold men's 4x100m to victory over the USA Blue and others in a meet-record 37.90, the fastest time in the world this season.

"The crowd here has always been wonderful," Bolt, who made his first appearance here since running for William Knibb high school in 2004. "I haven't been here in a while and I was really looking forward to it. It was awesome. The experience was wonderful and I love running here in front of a home crowd."

The meet may have been on U.S. soil, but make no mistake, this was a Jamaican crowd.

The first Jamaican fans dressed in the green, black, and gold began lining up outside the stadium before 7 o'clock in the morning, nearly eight hours before Bolt actually took to the track. They braved hours of security and single-file entry into the stadium just for the chance to watch their national hero, as well as the nearly 45 Jamaican high school and college teams competing here.

Former 100m world-record-holder Leroy Burrell, who won seven Penn Relays watches, three during his All-American career at Houston and four more while running for the Santa Monica Track Club with Carl Lewis, said that a confluence of high school fans and fans of the professional stars has always been responsible for the meet's big turnouts.

"First of all, this meet is about the athletes and competitors on all levels so that brings a base crowd," Burrell, who now coaches at his alma mater and was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame, said. "Then you have other fans who come for the USA vs. the World events, and of course Usain is a big part of that. He's probably the most recognized person in the sport right now. When we came here about 16 or 17 years ago and we broke the world record in the 4x200m, they had a record crowd that day too."

About two hours before the USA vs. the World events began, Bolt arrived at Franklin Field via private escort. While Peggy Kowalski from the UPenn athletics operations department parked the car, eight security guards and a hoard of USA Track & Field personnel ushered Bolt into the stadium through the athlete's paddock at the corner of 33rd Street and South Street.

For point of comparison, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell was at the meet. His security detail numbered one state trooper.

While Bolt used the same point of entry as every other high school, collegiate and masters athlete, that's where the similarities ended. This was his show, and everyone else shared the stage.

And the attention.

"I've been coming here for about 12 years now, and this was the loudest crowd," Lisa Barber, who ran here for Montclair (N.J.) High School and the University of South Carolina, said. "When Bolt was warming up, I couldn't hear my music anymore through my headphones."

Barber's twin sister, Miki, quipped, "Was the President here?"

Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor likened the crowd to those at international meets. "Nowhere else in America do we get this crowd and this excitement," he said.

Bershawn "Batman" Jackson added, "The last time I ran with a great crowd like this was the Olympic Games in Beijing."

About the only time the crowd quieted down was after Allyson Felix led the U.S. women's 4x100m and 4x400m teams to victories over Jamaica, and even then you still couldn't hear yourself think on the infield.

"The crowd was amazing as always," Felix said. "The rivalry with Jamaica makes it extra special. It was real exciting. I just didn't want to get 'Woop, Wooped on.'"

The raucous reception he receives even continues to astound Bolt.

"Over the past two years I've been surprised by the amount of people that know me and the welcome I get when I go to track meets or functions," he said. "For me, I'm still trying to get used to it and I'm enjoying it."

With enjoyment on his mind, the last thing Bolt wanted was a stressful experience once he got on the track. If there was any pressure, it sat squarely on the shoulders of Bolt's Racers Club teammates who made up the other three legs of Jamaica Gold.

A week earlier, that same squad was unable to get the baton to its superstar anchor, botching the second exchange at the UTech Invitational in Kingston.

"I told the guys to make sure I didn't have to work, because I really didn't want to do much," Bolt admitted. "I got the baton pretty much in front, so I wasn't really worried about anything else."

Clean baton exchanges by Mario Forsythe, Yohan Blake, and Marvin Anderson made sure it was an easy day at the office for Bolt, who took the stick from Anderson and pulled away from U.S. anchor Ivory Williams like he was running backwards.

When Bolt crossed the finish line, pointing the baton at the Jamaican fans in the stands on the homestretch, the already-frenzied crowd erupted into a state of delirium that continued until he finished a five-minute victory lap around Franklin Field.

"For me, what's special is always the crowd," Bolt said. "As you can see, when we came out it was very loud. The starter was telling the crowd to be quiet. When you go anywhere else in the world, they are quiet (for the start). You get in front of Jamaicans and they make noise until you ask them to be quiet. That's one in a million."

The man they cheered for is once-in-a-lifetime.