A LARGE yellow cuckoo flew through the Bird's Nest last night. In a performance that was 85% greased lightning and 15% Lenny Henry, the Jamaican Usain Bolt lived up to his name by shattering the 100m world record.

It was an enthralling performance so comically electrifying that the lucky 91,000 ticket holders couldn't decide whether to gasp, laugh or applaud. Bolt, who has been a reluctant, and recent, convert to the 100m, might even have dipped under a previously inconceivable 9.6 seconds had he deigned to race the full distance. Instead, as the 100 specialists gasped in his slipstream, the incoming Olympic champion dropped his arms 15m from the line, played to the crowd, and settled for 9.69.

Even throttling down so far from the finish, the winning margin was the largest in an Olympic final since Carl Lewis defeated Sam Grady in Los Angeles in 1984. Bolt's two closest rivals on paper, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, were not competitive on the night, but even so this was a performance so bewitchingly phenomenal that it almost defied belief.

The new world record, eclipsing the mark of 9.72 which Bolt established in only his fifth run over 100m on June 1, crowned an historic Olympic Saturday in Beijing. It had started with the American, Michael Phelps, equalling the Mark Spitz record of seven gold medals in a Games, continued with British swimmers, cyclists and rowers mining a rich seam of medals, and ended in 9.69 seconds of magic which will remain etched in the memories of everybody who watched it.

Asked why he had slowed down and thrown away the chance of setting an even more sensational world record, Bolt, who will be 22 on Thursday, replied: "I wasn't even thinking about the world record. I didn't know I'd set one until I finished my victory lap. I was happy just to be the champion."

For a man so tall - he is 6ft 4in - Bolt came out of the blocks with remarkable ease and alacrity; by 60m the race was done and dusted. All that remained was the feather to tickle the crowd.

The runner-up, Richard Thomson of Trinidad and Tobago, was still pumping his arms and legs like pistons as he crossed the line in a personal best of 9.89, but was still hopelessly adrift of the slowing comedian in front of him. Just behind Thomson, who made it a great night for the Caribbean, the American Walter Dix also posted a personal best.

Powell, like Bolt from Jamaica, finished a poor fifth, while Gay didn't even make the final after being eliminated in the semis. But even at their optimum, they would have had to settle for the lesser medals.

Away from the track, Bolt is easy going and loose, with a laid-back approach to life. Although he is a committed Christian, he likes to party and hang out with friends back home in Montego Bay.

"I like dancing," he said of his pre-race routine. "It helps keep me relaxed." If he had one regret it was that Gay hadn't made the final.

"If you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best," he said reasonably. "I wanted him in that final because I was looking forward to competing against him. I'll do that next season."

Of his Jamaican relay team-mate, Bolt said: "Asafa is a great athlete and good friend. He's had injury problems this season but I know he's going to come back."

The winner is not a man to give a considered answer, when a simple one will suffice. Asked to reveal how he had spent the day in the build-up to the evening's semi-finals and eight-man showdown, Bolt replied: "I never had breakfast. I got up about 11 o'clock and sat around watching TV. Then I ate some nuggets and went back to my room and slept again for a couple of hours. Then I ate some more nuggets."

Powell, who held the world record until Bolt bettered it in New York in June, admitted: "I messed up big time, my legs died on me. Usain ran an awesome race, I'm very happy for him.

"I'm not sure what happened, I just have to be happy for Usain. It's a sad time for me, I really wanted to get that gold medal. But it's quite obvious I wasn't ready for the big stage yet."

Earlier, Gay could only finish fifth in the second semi-final. The American, who was struck by a hamstring injury two months ago, was nonplussed.

"I just didn't have nothing in me today," he lamented. "The injury was a setback to my training, but that's no excuse because my hamstring feels fine.

"I focused on the Olympics so I'm disappointed. I thought I would get into the final."

That, though, was before Bolt's astonishing performance. The 200m, his favoured event, now seems a formality for the Jamaican given his energy and exuberance last night. The Chinese have waited a long time for their first Olympic Games, but in Bolt and Phelps they have been amply recompensed for their patience.