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Bolt's legend grows

Usain Bolt startled the world again.
Usain Bolt
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates setting a world record as he wins the men’s 200m final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Thursday.

BERLIN — Usain Bolt startled the world again.

The Jamaican sprinting great captured the 200-metre gold medal in 19.19 seconds Thursday, yet another world record.

His time in the 200 slashed 0.11 seconds off the mark he set last year at the Beijing Olympics and came four days after he broke his 100 record by the same margin.

“I am on my way to being a legend,” said Bolt, who gritted his teeth and pointed to the clock as soon as his time flashed.

No one among the near capacity crowd at the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium disagreed.

“If Queen Elizabeth knighthooded me and I would get the title Sir Usain Bolt, that would be very nice,” Bolt said.

Bolt is now five for five in major sprint events. He won the gold in the 100, 200 and sprint relay in Beijing’s Bird Nest, each time with a world record. Now he is one race away from doing likewise in Berlin.

“I was running my heart out,” Bolt said.

“I got my start right and that was the key.”

Alonso Edward of Panama was second, a distant 0.62 seconds behind Bolt. Wallace Spearmon of the United States took bronze.

“Just coming out there, I’m just waiting for the lights to flash ’Game over,’ ’cause I felt like I was in a video game,” said Shawn Crawford, who finished fourth. “That guy was moving — fast.”

Bolt’s spirits got a boost before the start when teammate Melaine Walker added the world title to her Olympic gold in the women’s 400 hurdles, another success for the Caribbean island with outsized performances at the championships.

After defending champion Tyson Gay had withdrawn because of injury, Bolt’s main competitor stood beyond the finish line — a huge track clock painted in the same colors as his Jamaican jersey.

With a new take on former U.S. president John F. Kennedy’s famous Cold War quote “Ich bin ein Berliner,” Bolt pleased the locals with a training jersey saying “Ich bin ein Berlino,” referring to the bear mascot of the championships.

His running was even better than his show. From Lane 5, he gobbled up all opposition by the end of the curve, and then let loose those huge arms and legs in a whirl of unmatched speed.

Once across the line, he stuck out his tongue much in the manner of basketball great Michael Jordan.

Bolt took off his orange shoes, which had taken him though through eight races in six days, and he started celebrating on the eve of his 23rd birthday.

It was the first sultry evening in Berlin, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees, reminiscent of the warm night, exactly one year ago, in Beijing.

“I definitely showed people that my world records in Beijing were not a joke,” Bolt said.

During warmups, Bolt faked knocking out Spearmon, with the American happily playing along, taken in by the Bolt aura.