大象传媒

was undoubtedly the international sports story of the weekend.

On that much, we all agreed.

What this morning's news meeting could not agree on, however, was whether this story was a joyous example of sport's ability to amaze or a depressing case of its ability to dismay.

But that debate did not rage between two factions (the optimists and the cynics, or the na茂ve and the worldly wise?) in the office, it raged inside every individual's head and heart: I want to believe this guy but I've been lied to too many times.

On Friday I wrote about how far athletics has fallen down America's sporting agenda. The candle that the sport's loyal band of US supporters hold for athletics between its four-yearly chances to truly shine has been blown out by a hurricane of confessions and rumours.

Kelli White, Tim Montgomery, Justin Gatlin, Marion Jones...each blow bigger than the last. And it hasn't just been Americans. The Canadians had their eyes opened earlier than most with and we've had .

In fact, there isn't a major athletics nation that hasn't had a slice of drugs shame. The most written-about person in world athletics since the last Olympics has been some guy called . He's been everywhere.

The realisation that there were more than just a few rotten apples has been slow and painful but it has sunk in now. The result for the sport has been disastrous - track & field has become the embarrassing uncle at the Olympic wedding, which is why you have to scroll a long way down most sports websites to find news of Bolt's remarkable performance.

The bigger problem, however, is : record breakers are now guilty until proven innocent, their times dirty until proven clean.

Which brings us to .

If you haven't seen what a 9.72-second 100m looks like, you really should. I'm not allowed to link to it here but I'm sure you can all find it yourselves. It is a breathtaking demonstration of grace and power. It was also only the 21-year-old Jamaican's fifth competitive 100m.

Picked out for greatness at 200m (and possibly 400m) ever since he won a gold and two silvers at the 2002 World Junior Championships as a 15-year-old, the 6ft 5in-sprinter from Trelawny has been a reluctant traveller over the shorter distance.

Worries over the amount of time (relatively speaking) it takes for him to unwind his giant stride have meant most experts saw him as a potential , not a .

That's all changed now. Given the choice by his Kingston-based coach of a winter spent concentrating on speed or stamina, Bolt opted for speed.

Mills was still leaning towards the half lap as his charge's best prospect of glory in Beijing (and wanted to erase the memory of running away from his man down the back straight of the 200m at last year's World Championships) but he knew there was a much better 100m runner inside Bolt than his previous personal best of 10.03 suggested.

Mills was right, and then some.

Bolt matched his PB with his first 100m of the season at a small local meet in March. Two months later, he smashed that mark in Kingston with a 9.76 - only compatriot had ever run faster.

Powell's hold on that claim didn't last long. Two weeks after Kingston, Bolt was under 10 seconds again, this time in Trinidad.

And then came : a new world record, a third sub-10 100m in May and a thumping victory over Gay - the reigning world champion at 100m and 200m.

The American, of course, is not the only one who would have winced when he caught sight of Bolt's time - it can't have been easy on Powell either. Having been the fastest man on the planet, he is now not even the fastest on his island.

A tough break for man who, despite his list of stunning times, remains an unfulfilled talent on the biggest stage. His next meeting with Bolt at the later this month should be some race.

And that, of course, is exactly what athletics needs right now: great rivalries, thrilling races. Let's enjoy an athletics story that is actually about athletics.

I'd like that, I really would. But then the world-weary cynic in me pipes up. A third of a second off his 100m PB in less than a year? A new world record on a wet track in May?

And so the internal debate starts again with arguments stacked up evenly on both sides.

Bolt is undeniably a prodigious talent who has been honed by Jamaica's excellent coaching structure. He has also passed already this year.

And yet Mills could see the questions coming a mile away.

"We know questions are inevitable given the revelations in the sport," Bolt's coach said after the race.

"But that doesn't trouble us for two reasons. One, there is a thing called conscience. Two, Usain doesn't even want to take vitamin C. We know he is as clean as a whistle."

At the moment, however, it's too easy for the defence witnesses for Bolt (and therefore his sport) to be shouted down by the prosecution.

What a shame that is. That Balco fellow and his pals in the penitentiary certainly have a lot to answer for.