The true hero is the one with the superhuman abilities who still recognizes that he is a flawed mortal.

While other media outlets have played my unbridled enthusiasm for the Olympics like a fiddle, your articles have challenged, informed, prodded and probed. You are right to question dangerous trends, ongoing hypocrisies and fickle and inconsistent performances and fan reactions. I recently read your book, Chalked Up. And, your message there was similar to the one here - sports are awesome and worthy of devotion and praise. And, sports are also uniquely capable of highlighting cultural and systemic problems that can be understood and cured once acknowledged. But, only if someone is willing to ring the bell. It is clear your early glory as a gymnast was just a step towards your more recent role of adding the health of the athlete to the list of criteria by which a sport should be evaluated and regarded by the culture at large. Brava, Ms. Sey. I look forward to whatever you write next.

I for one am happy to see any athlete unscripted.

The post performance interviews for most athletes this Olympics were so obviously pre-meditated by some PR expert prior to the games. The interviewer would say "you won the gold, how do you feel." Then the athletes would stop smiling, their eyes would glaze over, and they would start into a monotone recall delivery of "its an honor to be here representing the..." Worse yet they looked as if waiting for scolding should they flub their lines. Its plainly apparent that they are regurgitating a script they learned while attending PR classes at a Olympic training center.

Its reasonable that countries such as China or the USA do not want their athletes to engage in poor sportsmanship on the international stage. However there is a fine line between teaching good manors and turning the athletes into puppets delivering scrips verging on propaganda.

At least when we see an athlete like Bolt celebrate we know they are doing it from the heart.

A column I read on another website pointed out that Bob Costas' claim that Usain Bolt's behaviour in his 100 meter record-breaking run was disrepectful is antithetical to what the United States stands for.

Those who left England were disrespectful of the King's efforts to force his religion upon them; the revolution was showing disrespect for the tyranny forced upon American colonials by the tax-hungry king of England, and so on and so forth.

Costas calling Bolt disrespectful and saying that he lacks class is, quite literally, a slap in the face to those founders of the American nation - and an affront to anyone who has ever wanted to celebrate any good thing.

He seems to have become one of those conservative announcers who tut-tuts when football players celebrate in the end zone after scoring a touchdown, or thinks that excessively showy slam dunks are not classy.

In the world of sport, emotions run high and should never be curtailed. Emotion plays as much in a competitor's game as his fitness and talent.

There should be more emotional exhibitions like Bolt's - not less. Spectators can far more easily relate to someone who is so throughly enjoying what he does than the taciturn, emotionally restrained athletes that Costas figures they should be.

Shame on you, Bob Costas. You've clearly forgotten that joy is what makes everything better - and displays of joy in any athletic competition makes it that much richer for both its participants and audience.

Just one question, sir: when the heck did you become a curmudgeon?

Hey "Joe Blow" why is it that you feel the need to attack Jennifer personally? Normally that type of attack is a sign of jealousy? I can understand debating with her on her written opinion but why the personal attacks? I just don't get it! If you don't like her than stop reading her work.

Yes, I am limiting myself to the facts. 90m into a 100m race is towards the end, but it is still during it. Thus, by definition it is mid-race. Yes, he was running extremely fast. He is a phenomenal athlete and the world's fastest man. But the Olympics are about the best in athletics, and by not trying his hardest for the entire race, he didn't show his best. Phelps' celebrations, while just as exuberant as Bolt's, are more palatable not because of his race but because he waited to win before celebrating.

Why waste precious time and energy on him? The guy from Jamaica was wonderful and his victory was fun.

Kasha???

Did you not see Phelps pounding his fists against the water? Letting out primal screams with his suit rolled down as far as I'm sure the FCC would allow in primetime? Repeatedly? I sure did. Where's the outrage about that?

If that's humility, than I am a future olympian.

But I don't begrudge either of them- chest pounding and puffing are natural instincts of mammals. Look it up everybody. It's how we naturally show pride- get over it... Great apes do it all the time. Just because none of you are the fastest man in the world by land or sea, no need to hate so much. There's no need to be humble when you've just proved you are the best in the world at something.

"I think the reason that Bolt's exuberant behavior has produced such exaggerated outrage is that we expect our athletes to be superheroes. We engage in idol worship, demanding that these mere earthlings fulfill our communal hunger for picture-perfect symbols of humanity. We require our athletic champions to do no wrong -- on the field and off. If they fail to live up to our grandiose expectations, we turn on them."

I don't agree. Bolt's behavior was a disgrace--to himself, his country, the other athletes at the Olympics, and the audience--whether in Beijing or on NBC TV coversge. Just compare his narcissistic chest pounding with the humility of Michael Phelps' winning eight gold medals. Right. You can't.

Perhaps the IOC should create some Rules of Behavior. Excitement is one thing. Bolt's behavior is unacceptable.