They opened the horse boxes in Beijing and the horse bolted in an insane and imperious way this summer. A few months ago, when he set the world 100m record it was massive news as Usain Bolt entered the pantheons of sporting greatness in style.

In spite of the interest of Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell after his showing at the Reebok Grand Prix made him firm favourite to run off – pun intended - with the golden prize at the Olympics, he did in the most dominant style. His performance, along with Michael Phelps's haul, gave the sport back to the fans.

We are always guaranteed moments that will be eternally etched into our memories – Cathy Freeman in 2000 is an example for its richness in gallery – but this Olympics had been for so long overshadowed by politics that you wondered whether the heroes would have a voice. Even well into the competition you would hear reports and reports of reports about how China had behaved indecorously.

It was the Bolt of lightning from Jamaica, however, that captured the imagination of the sporting world and allowed us to believe in magic once again. As he kneeled next to the electronic signage that had the world record written on it, you got the feeling that this was more than just sport. This was the reinvigoration of the spirit.

It was not just Bolt who won but it was the third world countries that have generally come through as people to make the numbers.

In a world where the big boys had often dominated the sprints, it allowed the smaller nations to believe. Suddenly they could challenge. After all, even Zimbabwe had a representative in the final of 200m. Of course when he was done, the horse was gone.