History was created today as Jamaica’s Usain Bolt broke the world record of the men’s 200m at the Olympics and, in the process, became the first man since Carl Lewis to win both events at the same games.  He won it in a mind boggling 19.30.

Bolt also became the first man to hold world records in both events since fellow Jamaican, Don Quarrie, did it in 1976.

"It means a lot for me and my country," Bolt said of his historic win. "I spoke to the prime minister on the phone and he told me everybody is in the streets. He told me I have written history, pretty much, and I am really proud of that. The 200 has been my love since I was 15. It means so much more to me than the 100."

Bolt didn’t get the fastest start, as was expected, but he quickly accelerated past everyone by the halfway point and widened the gap down the stretch. There was no chest-thumping 20 meters from the line as was the case in the 100m.  For the first time at these games, fans got to see what Bolt could do when he ran all out.  He even dipped at the line even though there was no one remotely close.  

When the unbelievable time flashed on the scoreboard he threw his arms up in victory and fell to his back. He then took off his golden shoes, blew kisses to the crowd of 90,000, wrapped himself in the Jamaican flag, and began to dance.

As he ran his victory lap, "Happy Birthday" played over the loudspeaker a few hours too early.

Much was written of Bolt’s chance of breaking the 200m world record that, previously, many thought was unapproachable.  

Michael Johnson, the man whose record Bolt took, said, "I think he'll run 19.5-something.  Will he be able to sustain what we saw the other day, which was incredible? I just don't think he's been doing the type of training he needs to do that. I put what he did the other day down to the fact that the guy has got an incredibly long stride and he's figured out how to make that long stride technically efficient.”

However, after the race, Johnson, who seemed astonished that Bolt broke his record exclaimed, “He’s Superman 2!”.

And he probably is.  The next athlete past the line was Churandy Martina of the Netherland Antilles, a half second behind.  Bolt himself was surprised at the performance.

"I knew the track was fast but I did not think this was possible," he said. "I'm shocked. I have been aspiring to the world record for so long."

Bolt now owns both senior sprint world records as well as the world junior record over the 200m at 19.93 seconds.