LILLE LOG: All about Usain Bolt!

It's amazing the amount of love our athletes get from people all over the world. People hold them in such high esteem, it's pretty close to worship, if you ask me.

None is more beloved than Olympic and world 100m and 200m champion and record holder, Usain Bolt, who was asked about every other day in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games. But here, not a single day goes by and Bolt's name is not mentioned to me.

I was told by a PUMA executive that he is most popular in Europe and that this is where his real market is; the nail was hit right on the head.

I am actually afraid to go on the street in anything that says Jamaica, well aware that I will be stopped more often than I care to be and asked about the Jamaican sprinting star.

"So Bolt, is he a cool guy? What kind of car does he drive? Is Bolt married? Usain Bolt, is he always like that, even when the cameras are off?

"Surely, you guys live close to each other."

The last statement, which came from a volunteer at the World Youth Championships here, sums up what seems to be a common misconception.

Incidentally, there seems to be the terribly misconceived notion that we Jamaican journalists have an inside lane on the happenings in the young man's life; it's almost as if the perception is that we all live on a very small piece of mass, so we are all neighbours living within walking distance away from each other.

Yesterday, I ran into team coach David Riley and assistant manager Tricia Gayle, who were on their way to the supermarket. Tricia and I paired off, and as I was about to pass through security with my bag, which normally would have been taken and secured by the security guard, a conversation broke out between him and me.

"Jamaique ... blah, blah, blah, blah ... Usain Bolt ... blah, blah, blah, blah."

We couldn't understand anything that was said except 'Usain Bolt', and with that he even allowed or forgot to staple the open ends of my bag.