Today, when he formally closes the Beijing games, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will offer the obligatory congratulations to the hosts and perhaps herald these as "the greatest games ever".

He will also invite the 'youth of the world' to gather in four years' time in London to celebrate the 30th Olympiad of the modern games.

If he follows the expected narrative, Mr Rogge will be right on both counts. First, the Chinese hosts are deserving of full praise for an almost impeccable organisation and management of the games, held in grand facilities into which they invested much time and effort and a huge amount of money.

Greatest Games

And these, perhaps, have been the greatest games of the modern Olympics. The heroics of American Michael Phelps with his eight gold medals in the pool, notwithstanding, these games have been defined by Usain Bolt, as much for his blistering runs on the track as for his larger-than-life yet playful personality.

The sprints, the 100-metre and 200-metre run in particular, have always been the sexy events in global athletics. Humans testing themselves against each other and the clock, over a short distance, provides a unique adrenaline rush for competitors and spectators alike.

In Beijing, Usain Bolt declared unchallenged ownership of these events as part of a rebalancing of power in global athletics that lifted Jamaica undisputedly to the top. His record-breaking results in the two events also marked Bolt, who turned 22 last week, as perhaps the greatest sprinter of all time.

But it is not only that Bolt runs fast; he runs with great joy, expressing the kind of spirit and enthusiasm that ought to belong to the youth of the world, of which too many are robbed. Which brings us to our principal point and back to the IOC's Mr Rogge.

The head of the Olympic movement, in a selective interview with three news agencies, criticised Usain Bolt, ostensibly for showing a lack of respect to his competitors after winning his races. And what was the basis of this?

In the 100 metres, Bolt, well ahead of the pack, glanced around, metres from the finish, dropped his arms and then slapped his chest. He did not immediately go over afterwards to shake hands with his competitors. Instead, he did popular Jamaican street dances.

Everything on the line

Well, the sprints are not staid, reception - line events, their performers, the modern-day gladiators. They put almost everything on the line, extending every sinew for - in Mr Bolt's case 9.69 seconds - conquest and triumph. Then the victor celebrates. And if he is young and joyful and is Usain Bolt, he might slap his chest in triumphant glee and do a few steps of the 'Nuh Linga' or 'Gully Creeper'. In other words, he enjoys his triumph and youth.

But personal celebration does not translate into disrespect of one's opponents, and certainly not in Bolt's case. Far from seeking to humiliate or annihilate his competitors, Bolt did indeed, in the midst of his celebration, recognise, and accept, the congratulations of his competitors, though not in the order that Mr Rogge would wish.

Perhaps when he wins the world championship of chess, the pace will be right for staid handshakes and emphatic words ahead of the celebration. But while bolting away from the field, what he now does is quite all right by us.

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