Not even a brush with serious injury as the result of a freak Segway malfunction can ruin Usain Bolt’s sense of the celebratory moment.
After anchoring Jamaica’s 4×100 meter relay squad to a gold medal – his third in less than a week – at the IAAF World Championships on Saturday, earth’s fastest man did the only thing he might do better than sprint: flaunt. Instead of busting out his signature “To The World” pose, though, Bolt paid homage to perhaps the only other active athlete in the world who occupies his rarified air.
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen LeBron James perform the celebration that became an overnight sports sensation in 2014. His triumphant gestures during the 2014-2015 season always seemed spontaneous – certainly none moreso than when he went full Hulk after leading the undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers to an overtime road win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
We’ll always remember the purely emotional response above more than any time James did his choreographed stomp and chest slap. There’s no stage bigger than the Finals, and watching him pull the shorthanded Cavs to victory with the incredible grit and desire so many love to say he lacks is and will remain a performance for the ages.
But we definitely still missed his time-honored celebration, though, and can’t think of an athlete more worthy of duplicating it than track and field’s singular superstar. Maybe LeBron will repay the favor with Bolt’s point to the sky at some point in 2015-2016? Stay tuned for June.
[Via Aaron Morales]
