What next for Usain Bolt?

There was a stark contrast between Usain Bolt’s celebrations at the end of the 100m and 200m in Beijing, despite the fact that both races ended in world records being credited to the Jamaican.

In the 100m, Bolt was already celebrating 15m before the line, fist thumping his chest, to leave billions around the world open-mouthed at the sheer physical talent on display.

Over the longer distance though it was strictly business all the way to the line and jaws dropped even further.

Times of 9.69 and 19.30 now stand next to Bolt's name in the athletics history books but, if his coach is anything of a guide, very soon people could be reaching for the Tippex.

“If he gets stronger, his stride frequency will improve and when we achieve that in perhaps the next two years, he is going to run even faster,” said Glen Mills.

Mills was the man who took Bolt under his wing four years ago when his youthful promise, which saw him win a world junior title at 15 against boys four years older than himself, looked like it might be going to waste.

“He is still not as strong as he should be,” added Mills, referring to Bolt's less than muscular upper body.

“Our emphasis was to get him as technically correct as possible and that took us over two seasons,” added Mills. “Last year, we concentrated on correcting his turn running, making him more efficient around the curve.

"I felt that I could significantly improve his 200m. He was leaning inside on the turn and was unbalanced. We got him to lean forward and that contributed to him developing a good first hundred.”

The result has been that technique is now allied to a unique physique: he stands 6'5" (1.96m) and is much taller than any other world class sprinter in history.

Even former 200m world record holder Michael Johnson was in awe after Bolt dipped under his time of 19.32, which many people thought would stand for another 20 years.

“Guys that tall should not be able to start like that. He used every ounce of energy; he wanted that record," reflected Johnson after seeing Bolt erase his mark, set at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Bolt admitted that the 200m record meant more to him than the 9.69 he clocked to win the 100m on the second day of the Olympic athletics programme, a feat which he may have been cavalier about gave him the status as the face of the Games.

“I have always loved the 200m, I won a world junior title at the event when I was 15 so I told myself that I would go out there and leave everything on the track. I felt that if I was going to get the world record it had to be here because the track is real fast,” said Bolt, who also got an early birthday present as he turned 22 the day after his 200m gold.

The next races in Bolt's diary are a 100m at the ÅF Golden League meeting in Zurich on Friday, a quick trip down the road to do a 200m at the Lausanne Super Grand Prix on September 2 and then another 100m at the last Golden League meeting of the season in Brussels on September 5.

Bolt admits that his extraordinary record-breaking feats at the Olympics would not have happened if he had not met Mills.

“Things changed dramatically when I joined up with Glen,” said Bolt, who admits he was in danger of squandering his remarkable talent when he was in his late teens.

“He is like a father figure to me. He has never done me any wrong and he has always made the right decisions. He is a guiding light in my career and he has shown me the way to improve myself both as a person and as an athlete," said Bolt.

His Beijing brilliance also helped partially heal the rift between Mills and Stephen Francis, the coach of former world record holder Asafa Powell, so that Jamaica could pool their human resources and win the 4x100m relay in another world record time.

Even Francis begrudgingly admits there can now be no arguing about who is the world's number one sprinter.

“Kudos to his coach Mr Mills. I'm sure that he's enjoying himself right now,” Francis said in Beijing, perhaps through slightly gritted teeth.

“I think that he [Bolt] has finally fulfilled the promise that he showed when he ran 20.5 at 15 years old. Although nobody has been as precocious as that, there are many people who thought they were good as youngsters but have not made the transition. He has done what it has taken, to make the transition to where he's now, which is probably the greatest sprinter in Olympic history,” added Francis, although he use of the word 'probably' suggests there is still a touch of envy about his man being put so comprehensively put in the shade.