Usain Bolt's stunning 100 metres world record run in Berlin was hailed by European papers on Monday as one of the finest sporting exploits of all time.
Usain Bolt's stunning 100 metres world record run in Berlin was hailed by European papers on Monday as one of the finest sporting exploits of all time.
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The Jamaican clocked 9.58 seconds in the final at the World Championships on Sunday evening slicing a huge 0.11 seconds of the mark he set in last August's Beijing Olympics and he made it clear immediately afterwards that he aims to go even faster.
"Stunning!" was L'Equipe's simple front page headline over a huge picture of Bolt savouring his historic performance.
"It was an electrifying final to the 100m with Tyson Gay (9.71) and Asafa Powell (9.84) battling it out and showing all their incredible talent," the French sports daily wrote.
"But there was nothing they could do against the extra-terrestrial Usain Bolt. With his 9.58 the Jamaican has opened up improbable horizons."
The same theme of other-worldliness was used by The Times in London which headlined: "Thunderous Bolt enters a galaxy off limits to mortals."
"And now we finally have the answer. Still electrifying, still like a man from another planet. But now we know how fast the man can really go," their correspondent in Berlin wrote.
Spain's Marca hailed "a record from the 22nd century", while the Berliner Kurier, in a reference back to the 1936 Olympics gushed: "Somewhere on a cloud high up there Jesse Owens applauded and said 'superb race Usain.'"
"The sprint world is in a state of shock," wrote Le Soir in Brussels, while Italian sports daily La Gazzetta Dello Sport, under a headline of "Bim Bum Bolt", carried a picture of Bolt striking his chest and saying 'I am the number one"
"Who can deny it?" the paper continued. "He set a world record of 9.58, a time that previously had just been a mirage."
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