LITTLE ROCK Leading off the 4x400 relay for the U.S., Angelo Taylor settled into the starting blocks and leaned forward, hands spread. The TV camera zoomed in and his rubber bracelet reminded the world about the cheaters in sports.

"Test me," it said. Unseen were the words, "I'm clean."

Calloused by too many positive drug tests, we are suspicious anytime an athlete does something phenomenal. Guilty until proven innocent, it is the justice system in reverse.

Even when an athlete clears a drug test, many simply assume that he or she is one step ahead of the law, consuming something that is not yet detectable.

Moments after Usain Bolt's world record 9.58 in the 100 meters was official, the hope was that he would test negative, that wondrous accomplishments can indeed come without the shortcuts that are banned substances.

Doubters need to know that weighted squats and lunges with heavy dumbbells build strength; that bunny hops and frog leaps improve explosiveness; that a diet that is 60 percent protein, 30 percent carbohydrates and 10 percent fats is perfect.

A few days after Bolt's sensational 100 meters, the International Association of Athletics Federation said all participants in the race passed drug tests. The brief statement is to be embraced by those who want the best to be clean.

"All the test results are negative. Please note that all the athletes in this final have also tested negative in all other tests carried out prior to the 100m final."

There is something pure about watching somebody run really, really fast. There is no equipment to enhance performance; no teammates to help or blame. It is a human against a clock, like all those before.

Tiger Woods and Y.E. Yang had yet to tee off in the PGA Championship when Tom Hammond and his sidekick said the men's 100 meters from Berlin was scheduled in 80 minutes. Noting the time, the golf was abandoned 75 minutes later. A slow victory lap by the heptathalon competitors delayed the start, but somebody who received extra points in junior high school for knowing that Bobby Morrow won the 100 meters in the 1956 Olympics wasn't going to settle for a tape of Bolt vs. former Razorback Tyson Gay.

Gay broke the American record by six hundredths of a second and was a non-threatening second.

Bolt was breathtaking.

His 9.58 was an amazing 0.11 lower than his record set in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Normally, sprint records improve by hundredths of a second. Nobody even cracked 10 flat until 1968. Thirty years later, the great Carl Lewis ran 9.92. Ten years ago, Maurice Greene set the record at 9.79. Three years ago, Justin Gatlin clocked 9.77.

For emphasis, Bolt ran 19.19 in the 200, again knocking 0.11 off his record. The thing is, Michael Johnson's 19.32 had stood for a dozen years until Bolt in 2008.

Through the years, the 100 meters has been ripe with champions involved in drug cheating. The list includes Ben Johnson, Gatlin, Linford Christie, Tim Montgomery, and Marion Jones.

Bolt is refreshing, a throwback to the days when sports heroes were held up for their work ethic as much as their results.

January 31, 2026