Sports names and faces: Jane Rosenberg, Usain Bolt

Jane Rosenberg

The New York sketch artist’s courtroom drawing of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (above) at his federal court hearing to try to get his “Deflategate” suspension reduced is a viral sensation. The sketch has been criticized as making Brady look like an aging cartoon villain or like his face is melting. It’s been superimposed upon “E.T.,” Michael Jackson performing “Thriller” and the figure inEdvard Munch’s “The Scream,” depictions that make Rosenberg laugh. But the scores of nasty e-mails do not. “I’m really having a rough time. This is so not my life,” Rosenberg said. “I thought I might crawl under a pillow and never come out.” She said, “It wasn’t my goal to make a photograph of him in the building but to show the feeling of what was going on.”

Usain Bolt

The Olympic gold medalist is returning to the stadium in which he became a star when the world track and field championships begin next Saturday at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The $450 million, 91,000-seat stadium, latticed with steel beams, was the centerpiece of the 2008 Beijing Games. Bolt, a 6-foot-5 Jamaican, redefined what is possible at the Olympics by winning gold medals and setting world records in three events — the 100 meters, 200 and the 4x100 relay. Now 29 and the man to beat at the Rio Games next year, he says he’s made lifestyle adjustments to stay on top: fewer parties, more vegetables. “I have to be real careful, have to be aware of everything around me to make sure I’m on point,” said Bolt, who made Chicken McNuggets his dinner, and lunch, of choice at the 2008 Olympics.

Track: Sprinter Bolt returning to scene of Olympic glory

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Usain Bolt, winning 200-meter gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he will compete in the world championships.

They burst onto the sports scene together, seven summers ago.

In their own ways, the Bird’s Nest and Usain Bolt redefined what was possible at the Olympics.

A stadium could be a star. The $450 million, 91,000-seat Bird’s Nest, latticed with steel beams, was the centerpiece of the Beijing Games, and it shined in a spectacular opening ceremony that featured a skywalking gymnast, fireworks and a cast and crew of more than 15,000.

Then came Bolt.

The 6-foot-5 Jamaican raced in three events. Won gold medals and set world records in all. He returns to the Bird’s Nest next Saturday for the start of world championships — helping the largely underused stadium brush off some cobwebs while possibly shedding some positive light on a sport that has been dogged, yet again, by ugly news on the doping front.

Since departing the Bird’s Nest the night of Aug. 22, 2008, Bolt has improved on his records, which stand at 9.58 seconds for the 100, 19.19 for the 200 and 36.84 for the 4-x-100 relay. He has won three more Olympic golds, and dealt, on and off, with a variety of injuries, new challengers and even a couple of car accidents.

Through it all, he has remained the man to beat with the next Olympics less than a year away. But he will turn 30 on the day of the closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. It doesn’t come so easily anymore.

"I have to be real careful, have to be aware of everything around me to make sure I’m on point," said Bolt, who made Chicken McNuggets his dinner, and lunch, of choice at the 2008 Olympics.

He will use his next appearance at the stadium where he became a true, bona fide superstar as something between a tune-up for next year and the real thing. This is, after all, the biggest event he’ll race in until he gets to Brazil.

But this summer, Bolt has been beset by leg injuries, not running his best, rounding into form. He ran his top time of the season, 9.87 seconds, July 24 at a meet in London — at the other Olympic stadium where he has ruled. He called it an appearance that was "all about getting race ready."

How ready he is in Beijing this time around is almost beside the point. He will be the headliner, and will provide a respite for his sport when he appears at the nine-day meet, where he’s scheduled to run in the 100, 200 and 4-x-100 relay — the usual. The integrity of track has been battered this year under a doping cloud as thick and persistent as the haze that hovers over China’s capital.

In June, The Associated Press learned the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency launched an investigation into allegations that famed track coach Alberto Salazar encouraged Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp and others in his stable of elite runners to skirt anti-doping rules.

More recently, reports from German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times newspaper in Britain examined results of 12,000 blood tests involving 5,000 athletes from 2001 to 2012. The reports concluded that 146 Olympic and world-championship medals in middle- and long-distance races — including 55 gold — were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious tests.

The IAAF has responded with a detailed denunciation of the reports and an equally robust defense of its own anti-doping measures, backed by Sebastian Coe, the middle-distance great who is running against pole vaulting icon Sergei Bubka for president of the IAAF before the start of world championships.

The winner will oversee a sport with only one true, worldwide star. It’s Bolt, who has steered clear of all the doping troubles, even as sanctions have been leveled against luminaries in his own track-crazy country, including former world record holder Asafa Powell and Olympic relay gold medalist Sherone Simpson.

Even a Hobbled Usain Bolt Is a Beijing Headliner

They burst onto the sports scene together, seven summers ago.

In their own ways, the Bird’s Nest and Usain Bolt redefined what was possible at the Olympics.

A stadium could be a star. The $450 million, 91,000-seat Bird’s Nest, latticed with steel beams, was the centerpiece of the Beijing Games, and it shined in a spectacular opening ceremony that featured a sky-walking gymnast, fireworks, and a cast and crew of more than 15,000.

Then came Bolt, a 6-foot-5 Jamaican who raced in three events.

Bolt won gold medals and set world records in all. He returns to the Bird’s Nest on Saturday for the start of world championships — helping the underused stadium brush off some cobwebs while possibly shedding some positive light on a sport that has been dogged, yet again, by ugly news on the doping front.

Since departing the Bird’s Nest on the night of Aug. 22, 2008, Bolt has improved on his records, which stand at 9.58 seconds for the 100 meters, 19.19 for the 200 and 36.84 for the 4x100 relay. He has won three more Olympic golds, and dealt, on and off, with a variety of injuries, new challengers and even a couple of car accidents.

Through it all, he has remained the man to beat with the next Olympics less than a year away. But he will turn 30 the day of the closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. It doesn’t all come so easily anymore.

Fewer parties. More vegetables.

“I have to be real careful, have to be aware of everything around me to make sure I’m on point,” said Bolt, who made Chicken McNuggets his dinner, and lunch, of choice at the 2008 Olympics.

He will use his next appearance at the stadium where he became a true superstar as something between a tuneup for next year and the real thing. This is, after all, the biggest event he will race in until he gets to Brazil.

But this summer, Bolt has been hobbled by leg injuries, not running his best, rounding into form. He ran his top 100 of the season, 9.87, on July 24 at a meet in London, at the other Olympic Stadium where he has ruled. He called it an appearance that was “all about getting race-ready.”

How ready he is in Beijing this time around is almost beside the point. He will be the headliner, and will provide a respite for his sport when he appears at the nine-day meet, where he is scheduled to run in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay.

The integrity of track has been battered this year under a doping cloud.

In June, The Associated Press learned that the United States Anti-Doping Agency had opened an investigation into accusations that the track coach Alberto Salazar encouraged Galen Rupp, the Olympic silver medalist at 10,000 meters in 2012, and others in his stable of elite runners to skirt doping rules.

More recently, reports from German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times of England examined results of 12,000 blood tests involving 5,000 athletes from 2001 to 2012. The reports concluded that 146 Olympic and world championship medals in middle- and long-distance races — including 55 gold — were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious tests.

The I.A.A.F., the sport’s international governing body, has responded with a detailed denunciation of the reports and an equally robust defense of its own antidoping measures, backed by Sebastian Coe, the middle-distance great who is running against the pole-vaulting icon Sergei Bubka for president of the I.A.A.F. before the world championships.

The winner will oversee a sport with only one true worldwide star. That is Bolt, who has steered clear of all the doping troubles.

Usain Bolt dumps junk food for vegetables

Sprinter Usain Bolt has moved away from McDonald's chicken nuggets and junk food in preparation for next year's Summer Olympics.

Why fix what isn't broken? 

The old saying has a lot of truth to it, but world-class sprinter Usain Bolt has made a personal change ahead of his preparation for next year's Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Bolt has admitted on numerous occasions that he has a love for junk food — especially chicken nuggets — but will give his beloved foods up for healthier alternatives. 

"Food wise, I have to eat a lot more vegetables," Bolt told CNN. "I have to cut junk food out. I think that's one of the biggest things for me, because I get a lot of urges at late nights, just to eat junk food. For me, that personally is one of the biggest sacrifices. 

"Sometimes you do think about just going out or just not training, or just eating a million hot wings. It's hard sometimes, because you crave it, because you're used to doing a certain thing. 

"It's hard to just walk away and not slip up sometimes. So it happens, but I try to not make it happen on the regular. I try to just contain myself as much as possible." 

He estimated in his autobiography "Faster than Lightning," that he ate 1,000 McDonald's chicken nuggets during his 10 days in Beijing, which, if you're doing the math, is an astonishing 5,000 calories a day. This all happened because he found Chinese food "odd."

Bolt, now 28, is ready to eat healthier, but won't be preparing his own meals anytime soon. 

"I can't cook, that's the one thing I can't do, though I can make scrambled eggs," he said via CNN. 

Bolt, a six-time gold medalist, will be competing in his final Olympics next year. 

"I think the closer it (Rio) gets, I think about it way more," he said. "Initially, it wasn't that much, I didn't think about it. But now it's really been on my mind. I think it's because it really means so much to me, I really want to go to Rio and do so well. 

"It's going to be all work next season. I think there's going to be zero fun next season for me. That season is very important to do the Olympics back-to-back. For me, that's the biggest thing in my career. So I know what it will take and I know what I have to do."