2012 Summer OlympicsVideo

Usain Bolt, Mensch

Usain Bolt’s having a pretty damn good Olympics. He entered the Games amid uncertainty – he was beaten twice by countryman Yohan Blake at trials – but removed it when the 100-meter final came around, successfully defending his gold medal and beating his own Olympic record in the process. If he wins the 200-meter race – and you have to think he will – he’ll be essentially right back where he was in 2008, the undisputed king of sprinting.

And on top of what he’s done on the track, Bolt’s just been a good guy – so good that he got his own edition of the “good guy” meme. What brought it on? Well, Bolt was giving an interview out on the track after his win – one that wound up coinciding with the playing of America’s national anthem to honor fellow runner Sanya Richards-Ross, who took gold in the women’s 400 meters. And so Bolt, as gently as he could, stopped the interview while the anthem played (the video below fast forwards through the anthem, but you get the idea):

That’s the stuff sappy Olympics commercials about the human spirit triumphing over all are made of – with good reason. That was a pretty damn cool thing for anyone, much less one of the biggest stars at the entire Olympics, to do. Good on you, Usain – we’d say it’ll make us root for him in the 200 meters, but, again – he’s Usain Bolt. He probably won’t need anyone’s well wishes.