The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Bolt was icon of the Games <i>- Rogge</i>

Usain Bolt reacts to spectators after winning the men's 100-metre final with a world record on August 16. - AP

BEIJING, CHINA (AP)

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge stood by his criticism of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, but said the 22-year-old is an icon of the Beijing Olympics.

In a post-Olympic press conference on the final day of the 29th Olympiad, yesterday, Rogge reiterated his controversial comments criticising Bolt of failing to show respect to his fellow competitors after winning the 100 and 200 metres, but said he meant it as "fatherly advice".

"Yes, of course I have been criticised for various issues," said Rogge, who has been accused of being out of touch. "The Bolt issue, I mean, I take it with a big smile.

"I stand by what I said," he added. "I said that he was the icon of the games together with Michael Phelps. I have great respect for his abilities. I thought that, and I repeat what I said, he should show more respect for his opponents, but I've also said, in the same way, he was a young man of 22 and that he has time to mature."

Following Rogge's comments, several persons voiced their disagreement, including President of the International Association of Athletics Federation Lamine Diack.

"No, no, I did not mind," he said of Bolt's celebrations. "It is normal actually for him not to come back (once he crossed the line)," he added, referring to Rogge's comment about Bolt not shaking the hands of his competitors.

My personality

Bolt was also unrepentant of his actions, which included dancing, taking off his spikes, thumping his chest and playing to the crowd.

"I won't change that. And I don't see any problem with it, because people enjoy watching me. I'll stay the way I am - that's my personality," Bolt said Saturday.

Diack added that Bolt, with his flashy personality and outsize performances, was exactly the right man to help the sport recover from a spate of doping scandals.

"He is good and great for our sport," Diack stated. "He can help to build up our sport."

Led by Phelps and Bolt, athletes broke 43 world records and 132 Olympic records during the Games. Bolt won three gold medals, all in world- record time, and American swimmer Phelps won an unprecedented eight gold medals.

Jamaica's 11 medals was the most by any nation per capita, one for every 245,000 of its 2.7 million people. With a population of 21.4 million, Australia won 46 medals, one for each 465,000 people. Cuba won 24 medals, one for each 470,000 of its 11.3 million citizens.

Force changes

Jacques Rogge - File

The Olympics ended with an equally impressive closing ceremony, yesterday, as the theatrics that started it on August 8. The IOC, whose selection of Beijing as host back in 2001 was widely questioned, insisted its choice had been vindicated.

"The world learned more about China, and China learned more about the rest of world," Rogge said. "The IOC and the Olympic Games cannot force changes on sovereign nations or solve all the ills of the world. But we can and we do contribute to positive change through sport."

China invested more than US$40 billion in the Games, which it viewed as a chance to show the world its dramatic economic progress. Olympic telecasts achieved record ratings in China and the United States, and the Games' presence online was by far the most extensive ever.

Rogge said these Olympics would leave a lasting, positive legacy for China - improved transportation infrastructure, more grass-roots interest in recreational sports, a more aggressive approach to curbing air pollution and other environmental problems.