(Sports Network) - Only in America could 20 Olympic medals in seven days of track and field competition be considered a disappointment. The problem for the United States track and field squad is that all too often in Beijing the color of the medal has been a shade other than gold. In fact, out of those 20 medals just four have been the top prize and to quote fictional American racing hero Ricky Bobby, "If you ain't first, you're last!".

Sure, the U.S. men earned sweeps in the 400 meters and 400m hurdles, but those events don't pay the bills. The 100 and 200 meters, on the other hand, are events that get the average American's blood pumping, but this summer in China those races have belonged to an island nation that's slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut in size.

Led by the dynamic sprinting force known as Usain "Lightning" Bolt, the Jamaicans have dominated the marquee events at the Bird's Nest. All Bolt has done is set the track and field, and sports world in general, ablaze with world-record breaking and gold-medal winning runs in the men's 100 and 200 meters.

The troubles in the short sprints began with Tyson Gay, the poster boy and supposed challenger to Jamaica's Bolt and Asafa Powell. However, Gay bowed out in the semifinals of the 100 meters, making the fact that he was ever considered to be a threat to Bolt seem laughable now.

Bolt won the 100 in a blazing time of 9.69 seconds and even had time to showboat across the finish line, adding humiliation to the U.S. defeat. Quick quiz: Who won the bronze medal in the event? That's right, it was Walter Dix of the U.S., an answer that most Americans would probably only be able to come up with via a Wikipedia search.

Then came Wednesday night's second shot of Bolt, as the newly-minted sprinting legend won the 200 meters with another record. The Jamaican didn't hot dog it this time because he needed to run out every inch in order to break American runner Michael Johnson's 12-year-old world record of 19.32 seconds. He eclipsed the mark by .02 seconds to erase the letters USA from the record books and replace them with JAM.

You see, Bolt had the luxury of turning to the camera and beating his fist across his chest in the 100 because that record was already his after defeating Gay with a 9.72 run in New York City back in May. However, the 200m offered another chance at immortality and the World's Fastest Man grabbed hold of the opportunity.

Adding to his growing list of accomplishments, Bolt became the first runner in 24 years to win both the men's 100 and 200 races at the same Summer Games. Of course, an American was the last to pull off the double, as Carl Lewis achieved the feat on his way to four golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Not to be outdone, the Jamaican women also swiped gold out of the hands of the US, earning the top prize in both the 100 and 200 meters. The American ladies earned just one silver medal in those events as Jamaica's sprinters took all three medals in the 100 and gold and bronze in the longer sprint.

Jamaica became just the second nation in Olympic track and field history to win gold in all four sprint events, the men's and women's 100 and 200 races, at the same Games. The U.S. did it three times, pulling off the feat at the 1964, '84 and '88 Olympics.

To make matters worse, in what is sure to live on as enduring images of Jamaica's sprinting domination over the U.S. at the Beijing Games, was the fumbling display in qualifying for the 4x100 meter relays on Thursday night.

In a shocking turn of events for the U.S., neither the men nor women made it to the sprint relay finals, as both teams dropped the baton and failed to move to the finals.

Gay was the goat in the men's side, as he dropped the stick to add an exclamation point to possibly the most disappointing individual showing by a U.S. sprinter in recent history. He could blame his bust in the 100 on his inability to train after injuring his hamstring at the U.S. Track and Field trials in July, but dropping the baton, even on a rainy night, had nothing to do with his leg and everything to do with the mounting pressure of his previous failure.

However, the Americans' loss will be Jamaica's gain as the nation will now be even heavier favorites to win both relays. And, with the way things have gone for the U.S. in the sprints, it's probably a good thing that they won't be able to get dusted by the Jamaican sprinters once again.

And yet, all this comes down to America's fascination with being No. 1 in things that we're used to holding top-dog status in. It's natural to be let down by the U.S. track team's lack of sprinting gold at these Games, but in the long run it's unlikely that Jamaica's overwhelming success in Beijing will continue to last. The U.S. is simply too big and sheer numbers will keep the U.S. ahead of the curve at most Olympic Games to come.

The fact that Jamaica has been able to run this well in Beijing is surely a testament to the country's suberb sprinting program at the national level and their athletes' pride in the island's previous Olympic success. Jamaica churns out sprinters at a shocking rate for a country with a population of just under three million people.

Still, the fact that the Jamaicans have been able to develop a sprinter for the ages like Bolt is not surprising. A runner of his caliber comes along once in a generation and just because the U.S. normally lays claim to such sprinting specimens doesn't mean that will always be the case.

The best way to deal with the Jamaican's gold-medal winning speed this week is to do what thousands of witnesses did after Bolt's amazing runs, that is, stand up and applaud. Then again you could be bitter and simply claim that Bolt and the Jamaicans must be on some sort of performance-enhancers to pull off such astounding victories on the track, even though there is no basis for such claims.

Legends like Bolt don't come around all that often, so why not enjoy them while they're at the top of their game, regardless of what country's colors are emblazoned across their chests.





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