Blog Posts by Chris Chase

As a world and Olympic champion in both the 100m and 200m, Usain Bolt has drawn frequent comparison to other double-sprint stars like Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis. Now, Bolt is trying to become even more like those legendary track and field performers.

Before a meet in Zurich, Switzerland, Bolt told reporters that he would like to try the long jump, an event at which both Owens and Lewis won Olympic golds.

"I think I would be a really good long jumper.

I've messed around with the long jump since I've been at school and I'm definitely going to give it a try."

Like a great comedic actor trying his hand at drama, going to the long jump is the next logical step for Bolt. He's already ascended to the peak of sprinting at age 23. With no true rivals in either the 100m or 200m and no higher honors than world and Olympic golds, the only thing to keep Bolt motivated is the thought of lowering his own world records. That's far from mundane, but the dream of going 9.51 in the 100m isn't exactly

Caster Semenya, the 18-year old women's 800m world champion whose gender has been called into question in recent days, reportedly wanted to boycott her medal ceremony in protest, but was eventually convinced by the president of Athletics South Africa (ASA) to accept her gold medal. She is said to have regretted her decision.

It's another sad chapter in an increasingly uncomfortable story.

On Wednesday, Semenya dominated the field in the 800m in Berlin amid whispers that she was actually a man. She has undergone complicated gender testing (this article in London's Daily Mail newspaper explains why it's so difficult), the results of which won't be known for weeks.

Semenya grew up a tomboy but was said to have rarely encountered questions as to her gender and never on such a widespread level. Leonard Cheune, the president of ASA said today of Semenya:

"She told me: 'No one has ever said I was not a girl, but here I am not. I am not a boy. Why did you bring me here? You should have left

Before setting a world record in the 200m at the world track championships in Berlin, Usain Bolt echoed John F. Kennedy with a handwritten message on his Jamaican training jersey:

That's simply fantastic.

Kennedy's famous Cold War quote delivered near the Berlin Wall was "Ich bin ein Berliner" which meant "I am a citizen of Berlin." Bolt's shirt refers to Berlino, the official mascot of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Translated, Bolt's shirt says "I am a Berlino". It's not quite Kennedy, but this may do wonders for athlete-mascot relations for years to come.

Berlino has been quite chummy with the athletes at the championships. He can be seen celebrating with most of the victors after their events and even gave a piggyback ride to Jamaica's Melanie Walker after her win in the 400m hurdles. (It ended abruptly after Berlino ran directly into a truck carrying hurdles.)

Bolt and the mascot staged a mock race after Bolt's dominating victory in the 200m, with Berlino pulling out

In the past 15 months, Usain Bolt has won three Olympic golds, a world championship and set four world records. But tonight may been his most impressive feat yet.

The Jamaican sprint star shattered his own world record in the 200m at the world track and field championships in Berlin, running a scintillating 19.19 and besting the second place finisher by over six-tenths of a second. His old record, set in Beijing, was 19.30.

Few people (including myself) thought Bolt had a realistic chance of setting a world record tonight, as his run in Beijing was widely considered a "perfect race". Coupled with the fact that Bolt's turns have been less than stellar this season, and it was assumed he'd win the race with ease, but just off his Beijing pace.

Instead, Bolt burst out of the blocks, had a five-meter lead at the midway point and then accelerated down the stretch for yet another dominating victory.

For the first time since he came onto the international scene last year, Bolt looked fatigued

Exactly one year in Beijing, Usain Bolt broke Michael Johnson's once-untouchable record in the 200m, lowering the mark .02 seconds from 19.32 to 19.30. Earlier that morning, we debated whether Bolt would be able to run such a time, eventually predicting that he would.

With the fastest man ever set to run in the 200m final at the world track championships in Berlin at 2:35 p.m. ET (watch live on the internet at universalsports.com), we thought it was time for another prediction. But this time we're not so optimistic.

Of the three major races Bolt has run in his life (Olympic 100m, Olympic 200m, World Champs 100m) only one of those races has been close to perfect -- the 200m in Beijing. Bolt's 100m in the Olympics is well-known for his chest-thumping at the 90m mark, but even his 100m on Sunday in Berlin wasn't flawless. He looked around for Tyson Gay at the 85m mark and broke his stride even while running through the line.

His 200m at the Olympics, however, was basically 19 seconds of

The favorite in the women's 800m at the world track championships will run under suspicion that she's actually a man.

After bursting onto the scene with the world's fastest time three weeks ago at a junior meet, South Africa's Caster Semenya, 18, has been dogged by gender-swapping accusations. She will undergo complex gender testing (it's not as easy as you'd think) after her race tonight, but the results won't be available for a few weeks. Semenya had the fastest qualifying time of the eight competitors.

South African officials have acknowledged the controversy, but are standing by Semenya. Molatelo Malehopo, general manager of Athletics South Africa, told UK's Daily Mail:

"She is a female. We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts.

We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this

Last August in the 100-meter final at the Olympics, Usain Bolt shattered a world record in the event even though he began thumping his chest in celebration at the 90-meter mark. Bolt explained by saying he didn't care about the time, just the gold medal. Still, people wondered: "How fast can he go if he runs through the tape?" We found out tonight in Berlin.

The Jamaican sprinter shattered his own world mark in the 100 this evening, running a blistering 9.58 at the IAAF World Track Championships. That was .11 seconds faster than his time from Beijing and right in line with what some physicists had predicted Bolt could run if he kept racing for the entire 100 meters. The time is stunning. It's a full two-tenths faster than Ben Johnson ran in his steroid-fueled "victory" at the 1988 Olympics.

Bolt went so fast that his much-anticipated showdown with Tyson Gay (who withdrew from the 100 in Beijing due to injury) seemed anti-climatic. That Gay broke the American record in the race despite

Caleb Campbell is trading tackling sleds for bobsleds. The former West Point linebacker, who had a brief dalliance with the NFL in 2008, is in the midst of a long shot attempt to make the U.S. Olympic bobsled team as a brakeman.

In case you've forgotten about Campbell, he became the breakout star at last year's NFL draft after getting drafted in the seventh round by the Detroit Lions. He played college football at West Point and became the first graduate of the military academy to be drafted in over a decade. On the second day of the NFL draft he earned a standing ovation from the crowd at Radio City Music Hall, was interviewed on ESPN and spoke to his new coach, Rod Marinelli, via videoconference.

Campbell was set to take advantage of a new Department of Defense policy that would have allowed soldiers to play professional sports in lieu of the military service they owed. But on the eve of training camp, the rule was rescinded and Campbell was ordered to return to military service.

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