As the Commonwealth Games enters into the home stretch this week mostly everyone who has taken part, watched or visited Glasgow in the past few days will tell you that the whole affair has been a resounding success.
However for one of the event’s main stars, Usain Bolt, the Games has been a massive disappointment, so much so that he felt compelled to tell a Times journalist that he thought they were in fact ‘shit‘ and not as good as the London Olympics. As a wealthy professional sportsman, who travels the world in tight fitting spandex for a living, it was a move many deemed inappropriate and somewhat disheartening.
Since he arrived in Glasgow, Bolt has carried with him the air of a man who clearly wants to be elsewhere. Shufflling reluctantly into interviews and photo opps, whilst meakly engaging in anemic handshakes with children and officials. To coin a Scottish phrase: ‘His face is tripping him.’
At a recent press conference he laboured through each question like a capricious teenager, but excuses were made and doubts were put on hold, because he is the fastest man on earth after all and we all wanted to see him strike that iconic pose at Hampden. That was until he talked to the Times journalist who he then claimed was a liar for publishing their encounter, before the journalist in question released a full transcript of their brief meeting. Red faces all round for the Bolt management team.
Now popular Scottish DJ Robin Galloway has entered into the affair by penning a very succinct and direct open letter to the athlete, which is currently burning up social network platforms across the Internet, (read below).
A storm in a teacup? Maybe, but then he’s a pro and as Robin rightly points out a role model for millions of kids all over the world, especially those who live in Scotland and are inspired by his achievements, let alone the Games which are happening right now on their very own doorsteps.