ATHLETICS/WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:THEY SAY the Germans went nuts over Jesse Owens. I wasn't here in 1936 but it couldn't possibly have topped the roar they gave Usain Bolt last night. Running the 200 metres in 19.19 seconds has a tendency to generate wild hysteria. Out of this world, for the second time in five days.

What can he break next, the speed barrier? It’s reached the stage now that whenever Bolt runs a major championship sprint final you end up turning to the person next to you to confirm it’s all actually happening.

There was hardly a spare seat in the old Olympic Stadium and the moment the clock stopped at 19.19 seconds we were all suspended in disbelief.

He also earned himself a €100,000 bonus for his second world record in succession.

As if on cue, the big Jamaican had knocked more than one-tenth of a second off his own world record in taking it from 19.30 to 19.19. Or 0.11 to be precise, exactly the same margin he took off his own 100 metres world record last Sunday night.

Just like the 200 metres at the Beijing Olympics last year, he had to go flat out to do it, and actually gritted his teeth this time. Perhaps he is human after all.

“The world record? I didn’t really have it on my mind,” he said, but of course you straightaway get the feeling it won’t be the last time he breaks it. He’ll celebrate his 23rd birthday today and he’s getting faster by the year. Plus this is the man who only a few months ago couldn’t even run the bends on the track after hurting his feet in a car crash.

“I said early in the season I had to get my start right. I worked on it. That was the key to this final. I got my start right. I think I showed as well that my world record from Beijing was no joke. I just do it for my country. They’re so mad about me, and proud of me, I am honoured to do this for Jamaica.”

He certainly did nail his start, and again looked extraordinarily relaxed on the start line, even after there was one false start. Bolt clearly doesn’t have a nervous system like the rest of us, and more and more that appears to be the secret of his success. That, the chicken nuggets, and a natural mechanics which would have the German car makers scratching their heads in envy.

Vorsprung durch Technik would be no match for the Lightning Bolt.

Yet again he left the rest of the field chasing him down the track, like nieces and nephews chasing after a mischievous uncle. Alonso Edward from Panama ran a South American record of 19.81 to take silver, and the American Wallace Spearmon took bronze in 19.85. Needless to say they were the fastest runner-up positions in world 200 metres history. “I saw Bolt for maybe three seconds, and then he was gone,” said Spearmon. This guy is really, really fast. He’s amazing.”

It was almost comforting to see Bolt a little more drained this time, although that didn’t stop him celebrating with Berlino, the very cuddly mascot who joined Bolt for his trademark pose. Then it was his eighth race in six days when all the qualifying rounds are included, and still he’s not done yet. The plan now is for Bolt to help his Jamaican team-mates beat their own 4x100 metres world record on Sunday.

Maybe the IAAF should consider renaming this event the Jamaican and Rest of the World Athletics championships. A little earlier, Melanie Walker had won Jamaica another gold medal with a championship best of 52.42 in the 400 metres hurdles, and the small Caribbean island currently tops the gold medal table with the five they’ve won so far.

Truth is most of the Germans had come along last night not just in the hope of witnessing Bolt set another world record but also to witness their superstar high jumper, Ariane Friedrich, take gold, and for a while she looked on course to do that. The 25-year-old police officer was under enormous pressure, but seemed to rise to it when clearing 2.02 metres on her final attempt.

But unlike the Beijing Olympics last year, Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic would not be denied. She cleared 2.04 on her second attempt, and Friedrich couldn’t quite match that, failing so narrowly on her last height of 2.06.

It was close, though not as close at the 110 metres hurdles final, where only .02 separated the top three, the gold there going to Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados in 13.14.

Again, what a night, what a show. There hasn’t been so much fuss over 19.19 in Berlin since the Treaty of Versailles.