Old Man Rogge Should Hold His Tongue Over Bolt

They don't get it, do they? Usain Bolt comes to Beijing and - the usual tests permitting - makes history, reviving the Olympic Games' signature event single-handed and leaving virtually everyone thrilled and charmed in equal measure, only to be told to go and stand in the corner until he has learnt to behave himself.

"I have no problem with him doing a show," Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee told a group of news agency reporters yesterday. "I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish and not make gestures like the one he made in the 100 meters. I understand the joy. He might have interpreted that in another way, but the way it was perceived was 'catch me if you can'. You don't do that. But he'll learn. He's still a young man."

And Rogge, who is 66 and competed in the Olympics as a yachtsman three times between 1968 and 1976, suddenly sounded like a very old one. No one takes more pleasure from outbreaks of old-fashioned courtesy in sport more than I do, but on this occasion the president has got it dead wrong.

Bolt was 21 when he won the 100m and 200m double here, breaking both world records in the process (he turned 22 today). He is admired and, as far as one can tell, liked by his rivals. No one who came through the mixed zone last night had a bad word to say about him or begrudged his right to celebrate in a way that seemed as natural as his running. The only person who could possibly have been offended was a Belgian bureaucrat who has done some good things during his time at the head of the IOC but would have done well to bite his tongue on this occasion and let youth have its day.