Clay, an American, won the decathlon gold after two grueling days and 10 events, making him symbolically the “World’s Greatest Athlete.” Finneye shot Clay at a meet last year. Photos below.

It was fitting that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt eclipsed Michael Johnson’s twelve-year old world record on his way to gold in the 200m dash Wednesday. A torch, it seems, has been passed to Jamaica for these Olympics. Jamaica won just three individual Track & Field medals in Athens four years ago. Already they’ve won 9 medals (5 gold, 4 silver) in Beijing, and they are a country of only 2.8 million people. By contrast, the US (population 305 million) appears barely on track to equal their achievements in Athens, where they won a total of 25 Track & Field medals (8 gold).

It’s tough enough running a 200m race against the best sprinters in the world, and it’s hard enough to do it in 85-degree weather. But to have to wear a full body suit when everyone else is in shorts and tanktops: borderline cruel. That’s what Bahrain sprinter Roqaya Al-Gassra faced these Olympics, holding to Islamic law and covering all of her body but her face and hands as she ran through to the semifinals and missed the finals by 0.11 seconds.

Usain Bolt has done what no other man ever has, winning the 100m and 200m races at the Olympics both in world record time. His time of 19.30 in the 200m was absolutely shocking. Many felt that Michael Johnson’s record of 19.32 would last for decades; instead, it lasted just 12 years. I have the feeling that Bolt’s time won’t even last four years. I am loving watching this 21-year-old Jamaican dance his way to Olympic history, and I’m so glad we get to see Bolt one more time in the 4X100m race; what he’s doing is changing the face of the 2008 Olympics.

After watching the first few days of track and field I’ve come to a conclusion: Male sprinters are preening, egotistical jerks, while the women are full of joy and even the losers capture the Olympic spirit.

China’s Liu Xiang, the defending gold medalist in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and perhaps the most popular athlete in the country, is out of the Olympics after being sidelined by an Achilles injury. In terms of the impact this news will have in China, it’s roughly as if Michael Phelps pulled out before his first swimming event.

Watching Usain Bolt win the 100m sprint in 9.69 was nothing less than breathtaking. The pure speed and acceleration that this guy has - at 6-foot-5 - is like nothing we’ve ever seen. He doesn’t get a great start, which is typical of taller sprinters. But when he starts turning his feet over, his long legs make it look so effortless. With about 15 meters left, he slowed up and started celebrating; this guy could, if he wants it, potentially get into the 9.5s. He’s only 21 now. You’re going to be hearing his name, and hearing crazy 100m times, for a long, long time.

Shirtless sprinters, rowers and more, so there are more than a dozen links today, including these happy French rowers (right). Thanks to Finneye for most of these. If you are a fan of sprinter Usain Bolt, we have a bunch. Links after jump.

…And they were doing so good. NBC, which has offered unprecedented live coverage of Swimming and Beach Volleyball (as well as 17 other sports live online), is dropping the ball with Track & Field. The coverage of the woman’s marathon, shown live on the east coast tonight, was fantastic: nearly start to finish live coverage of what was an exciting race. Yet the 100m dash occurred over twelve hours ago and NBC is pretending like we don’t know what happend. I mean, the Chinese government doesn’t even censor the airwaves this diligently. Why not show the races live in the morning and then show them again in primetime with all the “enhanced” coverage NBC thinks adds so much value? We’ve reached an era in sports broadcasting where the only value is showing things live as they happen. Imagine if the Super Bowl was held in Beijing (okay, this metaphor begs a lot of other questions… but still), we’d just watch it in the morning instead of tolerating a 13 hour delay, right?

The first medals were awarded in track and field and the U.S. hopes for a 1-2-3 sweep of the men’s shot put were dashed. Instead of 1-2-3, it was 2-7-bust.

The Summer Olympics just keep getting bigger. There are 302 gold medals up for grabs in Beijing. That’s a gold medal every 47 minutes for the sixteen-day span of the games. Doesn’t sound so special when it’s put that way, does it? But is that BMX gold medal really as significant as the historic one Michael Phelps won last night? No, and there are good reasons why. Follow the jump for an in-depth analysis of the most valuable gold medals and the sports that don’t even deserve to be in the Olympics.

Mirror, mirror on the wall…

Italians are proud of their athletes, on and off the arena. Vanity Fair Italy has chosen 14 sexiest males of a total of 345 Italian athletes competing in Beijing. Now they are asking their readers for help in choosing the most sexy one of those jocks.

Let the games–er, the stagecraft–begin. The opening ceremony is typically a circus of symbolism celebrating the host nation’s history and culture. Maybe we’ll see a procession of tanks, you’re thinking. Well, probably not. We can only hope the party isn’t so self-consciously scripted that it comes off as a dud.

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis — and that’s over three Olympics — spoke to NPR’s “Tell Me More” today about the Olympics, his success, boycotts, juicing and whether a Carl Lewis could happen today. He also talks about attitude, something a younger Lewis had plenty of.

The interview didn’t pursue any lingering speculation that Lewis should join the list of Olympians who came out as gay after collecting their medals. Too bad, but the interview makes for interesting listening nonetheless. Listen to it here.

We have written before about French decathlete Romain Barras, who will compete in Beijing, and how he loves being eye candy for gay men. After contributing photographer Finneye shot him at a 2007 meet, Barras even asked for some images for his website. So he’s one of our favorite jocks. But even I was surprised to see the image above, which is on his website. It so cool to see a jock who knows he’s hot, has fun with it and welcomes everyone to look at him. Take a hint, Brady Quinn; don’t run away from the attention, embrace it. Fewer questions that way.

From Outsports cartoonist Dylan Edwards. See his Outsports cartoon archive.