Usain Bolt Makes His First Public Appearance in Rio, And a Party Breaks Out

The fastest man on the planet can be frustratingly slow. Or maybe he was just running late. It's possible Usain Bolt was still on island time. At any rate, his scheduled appearance Monday at the Cidade das Artes - the lone time the world's most famous Olympian planned to appear in public before chasing history at these Summer Games - was several minutes behind schedule.

The carefree, jovial Jamaican superstar who turned the past two Olympics into his personal carnival has been conspicuously low-key in the days, weeks and months leading up to the Rio Games. He was injured and pulled out of his country's Olympic trials. In Rio de Janeiro, he could be found on social media, but just about nowhere else.

"I haven't gotten around much," he revealed later. "I just stay in my room."

But rest assured, where Bolt goes, a party follows, and his news conference Monday did not disappoint - from a freestyle-rapping Norwegian reporter, to Bolt taking a selfie with at least a thousand assembled reporters, to the scantily clad samba dancers decked out in giant feather headdresses and bikinis that would make Hugh Hefner blush.

Somehow in between all of that, he found time to talk a little about track. With his cap turned backward, Bolt finally walked onto the stage of the theater in Rio's Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. The reporters who had assembled from around the world correctly guessed they'd be treated to a show.

"First of all, you've got to clap louder than that," Bolt admonished them. "That was weak."

Bolt is expected to race the 100- and 200-meter races, as well as the 4x100 relay at these Rio Games. He won gold in those events at each of the past two Olympics, and if he can somehow pull off the three-peat he'd leave Rio de Janeiro with nine career gold medals, tying him with Carl Lewis and Finland's Paavo Nurmi for the track and field record.

The 29-year-old sprinter said again that this would be his last time competing on an Olympic stage.

"This is the last one for sure. I've done enough," Bolt said. "I've proven myself over and over again."

Bolt is recovering from a hamstring injury that forced him to withdraw five weeks ago from the Jamaican trials. He was granted a medical exemption to compete at the Rio Games for Jamaica's national team and Monday didn't express any concerns about the health of his hamstring.

"I'm in much better shape. I've gotten races in," he said. "I was really unhappy about not competing in trials because I need those runs. But I've been training well."

He has competed just once in recent months, racing the 200 at a Diamond League event in London barely two weeks ago. He won, posting a 19.89 finish, but that's only the world's seventh-best time of the year. Bolt said he called his coach, Glen Mills, following the race and asked, "How was it?"

"He was like, 'What do you think?'" Bolt recalled. "I was like, 'It was okay.' He was like, 'That's one of the worst races you've ever run.' It was like, What? 'Yeah, the corner was awful' - he just went on until I got depressed."

Bolt laughed as he recounted the conversation. It hasn't impacted his Rio goals. He wants three gold medals, he wants three more world records, he wants to run a 200 in under 19 seconds.

"I think it's going to be a little bit harder," he said, "because I missed out on trials and a few weeks of training . . . but you never know."

He is nearly seven years removed from his world record times in the 100- and 200-meter races, but he is still the man to beat every time he is in the starting blocks. He battled injuries most of last season and managed to win both sprints at the world championships in Beijing. He always posts his best times when the lights shine brightest. He is a showman that way.

"I like to entertain. I'm definitely a sprinter first, but I like to entertain," he said. "That's what people come out and see."

Everything about him is part-competition, part-performance. A reporter from Norway was given the microphone Monday and admitted he didn't have a question; he just loved Bolt. He then proceeded to offer a freestyle rap, which Bolt recorded on his phone while barreling over in laughter.

Finally, when the circus-like news conference was finished, Bolt stood on the stage and posed for the cameras. Drummers came up from behind followed by 10 samba dancers. Bolt didn't need any instructions. He began dancing with them.

For one final time, this was after all his show - the news conference, yes, but also these Olympics - and Jamaica's charismatic, uber-talented bolt of lightning intends to dance until it's time to leave the stage.