Usain Bolt is a picture of happiness after arriving at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Fascinating sprint sensation, Usain St Leo Bolt, soaked up the accolades showered on him yesterday by adoring Jamaicans on his return home after a hectic track season.

Calm, composed and clad in black, Bolt, flanked by two former sports ministers and a host of track and field administrators, sat under a banner at the Terra Nova Hotel, which welcomed him home.

The entertaining theatrics which helped to endear the fleet-footed-six-foot five-inch star to the world, were absent, but there were glimpses as he revelled in the moment.

After a super 2008 Olympic year, Bolt returned to the track to prove that his exploits were no fluke by shattering the 9.69-second world record he set in Beijing, lowering the mark to 9.58 at last's month's World Championships in Athletics.

Amazing records

Bolt then broke his 200 metres world record of 19.30 seconds with an amazing 19.19 seconds.

The ever-charming sprint legend coolly accepted an announcement from sports minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange that Prime Minister Bruce Golding would be making a statement to the House of Representatives in relation to him.

The sprinter had paused earlier for a short visit with Golding at Vale Royal before making his way to the Terra Nova Hotel, which had pulled out all the stops to welcome him home in style.

Bolt was just as calm when Grange unveiled plans to celebrate the achievements of the athletes at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

The celebratory event is scheduled to take place from October 2 to 4. It is dubbed the 'The Berlin Salute - a Tribute to Our Athletes'.

Grange revealed that the events would include a golden reception at Jamaica House and would incorporate other sporting personalities.

A thanksgiving service at the Portmore Seventh-day Adventist Church, a tour of western Jamaica, including Bolt's home town, Sherwood Content, and a celebratory party in that section of the island is also on the cards.

Bolt's prowess on the track, as well as the contribution of his coach Glen Mills, his manager Norman Peart, and other members of his team, attracted the gamut of colourful adjectives.

"You confound us, but we love it!" gushed Grange.

"He keeps Jamaica spellbound as he rewrites the record book again and again, as an ecstatic world watches," declared Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller.

Simpson Miller said Bolt's charming but humble tendency to greet spectators after his races bore testimony to his strong family background.

The former prime minister urged the Government to capitalise on the opportunities flowing from Bolt's exploits.

"We must capitalise on investment opportunities that are there to be gained, not only from winning medals, but business opportunities," Simpson Miller said.

Peart, Bolt's manager, said sports journalist Carole Beckford had joined Bolt's team as a publicist.

He revealed that over the next six weeks, Bolt would be resting, fulfilling his commitment to some events, and his obligations to sponsors.

Neville McCook, who represented the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at yesterday's ceremony, said Bolt, fulfilled president Lamine Diack's dream.

The IAAF president, McCook explained, hoped the region would emerge as a powerhouse in track and field athletics.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com