BOLT FROM THE BLUE; WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Byline: RICHARD LEWIS

USAIN BOLT dreams of being a legend - and in Berlin he has the chance to emulate the greatest of them all.

The track might be blue, the grandstands might be modern and the athletes might be running a fair bit quicker than they did in 1936.

But this Olympic Stadium has only one meaning - the place where American Jesse Owens carved a remarkable piece of history right in the face of tyranny.

A black former grocery worker from Alabama, Owens won gold in the 100m, the 200m, 4x100m relay and the long jump in front of Adolf Hitler, whose dictatorship was based on the supremacy of the Aryan race.

Owens' achievements will be honoured in Berlin next week with his family as special guests at these 12th World Championships - the biggest athletics event to take place in this stadium since those Olympics 73 years ago. If 1936 was all about Owens, 2009 is set to be about Bolt - the fastest man to have lived.

Lamine Diack, the president of the IAAF, believes his time has come.

He said: "Jesse Owens is surely the most iconic legend of our sport. He was not just an amazing athlete but an outstanding human being.

"I would love someone like Usain Bolt for example, to try and match Owens (right) not only on the track, but by setting an example outside the stadium as well."

Bolt is on the way to that already.

The Jamaican who won triple gold at the Olympics last summer, breaking world records in all his finals, has captivated a new generation of athletics fans with his brilliance.

His 100m in Beijing was breathtaking, stopping 20m from the line to celebrate in an astonishing 9.69.

His 200m of 19.30 broke a 12-yearold world record.

And his speed on the bend in leg three led to his team re-writing the relay records. But as 22-year-old Bolt said: "I want to win championships after championships to prove that I am a legend.

"Doing it once is fantastic, but I want to keep coming back."

There would be no more fitting stage than Berlin to take that next step to athletics immortality for the 6ft 5in speed machine from the Caribbean.

Amazingly, Bolt has not won a world title since 2005 when he was the junior 200m champion in Kingston.

Even two years ago in Osaka he was beaten in the 200m final by Tyson Gay, the American who has become the most forgotten triple champion of all time.

Gay had won the 100m, 200m and relay gold in Osaka, but injury at the Olympics meant he made no impact.

This time Gay has been flying out of the blocks and tops the 2009 world rankings in both the 100m and 200m.

Yet Bolt has not run at full pelt - though did pretty well in pelting rain! His 9.79 in Paris last month was a brilliant performance, the second quickest this year behind Gay's 9.77 and run on a track full of puddles.

Should he do the treble in Berlin, Bolt's lifestyle will not change.

He might be in millionaire's row through sponsorship and the race fees he can now demand, but he still enjoys staying in and playing video games.

Nothing will tear him away from his homeland.

As Bolt said: "I had opportunities, but I can't live outside of Jamaica. The first time I went out on the circuit, I was so homesick I actually almost cried because I wanted to come back. I just can't be outside of Jamaica for long. That's why I didn't leave and go to the States."

His long legs make such a difference. He is able to take around 41 strides to complete the 100m compared to American Walter Dix, who was third behind Bolt in Beijing in 9.91, who needs 47.

And now Berlin awaits his next step on the road of legends.

CAPTION(S):

COOL RUNNINGS Bolt hopes to breeze home in style in Berlin