BEIJING • The race that was supposed to be a dream final didn’t even materialize.

But it didn’t matter because Jamaican runner Usain Bolt gave the crowd at the National Stadium a race that young sprinters only fantasize about.

Many thought Tyson Gay was the United States’ best chance at a gold medal in the 100-meter sprint, the best chance, that is, to usurp the powerful Jamaican duo of Bolt and Asafa Powell. Gay, the reigning world champion in the event, disappointingly didn’t make it out of his semifinal heat.

“I was always the fastest,” Bolt said. “I told you all I was going to be No. 1, and I did just that.”

In the end, Bolt was the one who made it through all his heats and through the final in impressive fashion, finishing the 100 in a world-record 9.69 seconds, and giving Jamaica its first Olympic gold medal in the 100.

And get this, as fast as Bolt was, he could have run faster. He could have set a standard so mind-boggling that people would question his genetic make-up – is he man or cheetah?

Instead of doing that, Bolt slowed the last 10 meters. He spread his arms wide, his fingers straight. He thumped his chest, turned to this right and found nobody there, but yelled out anyway.

“I wasn’t bragging,” Bolt said. “When I saw I wasn’t covered, I was just happy.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s Richard Thompson ran a 9.89 to finish second, and American Walter Dix took the bronze with a 9.91-second effort. Powell finished in 9.95, good for fifth.

Bolt’s victory, especially the slow down, if anything, served notice to the rest of the track world that this 21-year-old Jamaican has some speed to give. And when he gets a better start – his reaction time was .165 of a second, second worst in the eight-man field – and actually finishes the race, the rest can forget about it.

“You haven’t seen nothing yet,” former Canadian sprinter now analyst Donovan Bailey said. “He can run 9.55.”

Bolt broke the 9.72 world record he set in New York in May when he decisively defeated Gay. He became the first person since Bailey to set a 100-meter world record at the Olympics.

Gay set the American record at 9.77 seconds at the Eugene, Ore., trials in July. He ran a wind-aided 9.68 – the fastest time in any conditions – in the trials’ final.

Now Gay’s only chance at a medal in these Games will come from relay events.

“Toward the finish line, I couldn’t tell if I made it to the finals or not,” Gay said. “I looked up there and realized I didn’t. It was kind of devastating. I may have needed more races, but I don’t really have any excuses. I just didn’t make it.”

Looking for some reason for his failure, it’s easy to turn to his recently injured hamstring. Gay fell to the track six weeks ago at the Olympic trials and had to be taken off the track with on a stretcher. Gay hadn’t raced until the preliminaries at the Olympics.

“My hamstring feels good, it’s not bothering me,” Gay said. “I wasn’t too overwhelmed with it being the Olympics. It just was one of those things that happened. Maybe I could have used some more training or more races. I kept trying to get my rhythm through each round. I thought I had a better start than I had the first two rounds. I pretty much ran hard through the finish line.

“I’m pretty upset. When I get back to the Village, it’s really probably going to set in. My family is here, everyone at home is supporting me, and I just feel I let them down a little bit. But at the same time, I did my best and everyone knows I did.”

Still, Gay’s best, at least his non wind-aided best would’ve gotten him second in this final.

Saturday’s race is an indication that if Bolt stays healthy, 9.68 will be history soon.

“Anything is possible,” Bolt said. “The human body is changing, so you never know.”

Time is shrinking on Powell. His credentials can’t be dismissed. He is the only person in history to have five 100-meter sprints less than 9.8 seconds – that, too will be not be a fact soon. Powell is also a former world record holder who has beaten Bolt three times in the past year. But Powell has never won the 100 in a major championship, fading badly in this race and into the immense shadow of his teammate.

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Columnist Milo Bryant can be reached at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazettedev.gazette.com. Check out Milo’s blog, The Extra Milo, at milobryant.blogspot.com

Bailey’s Brandy L. Erholtz, 30, was the first female to finish the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday. Photo by KIRK SPEER, THE GAZETTE