BEIJING, China - Hours after Usain Bolt crowned himself the best sprinter of all time by winning Jamaica's first ever Olympic gold in the 100 metres and becoming the first man to go below 9.7 seconds, his coach Glen Mills says he believes the Trelawny native can run 9.5 seconds.

Running in lane four under a canopy of blue skies and cheered on by 91,000 spectators, including his mother Jennifer, in China's Bird's Nest Stadium, Bolt exploded from the blocks, separated himself from the field by the 50-metre mark, before shutting down and celebrating with his arms out-stretched at the 80-metre mark to win in an incredible 9.69 seconds.

Usain Bolt poses with his golden spikes and the Jamaican flag after winning the Men's 100m final at the Beijing Olympics yesterday.

"Who knows how fast he can go. obviously from the race he can go faster than the 9.69," Mills told the Sunday Observer in an interview after his 21-year-old prodigy shaved 0.03secs off his own world record set on May 31 in New York.

"He was having fun in the last 20 metres, celebrating and breaking the world record in the process; that's awesome. You can read into it... he can probably go under 9.60, but I'm not good at predictions, I just love to see things unfold," added the veteran coach, who also guided Kim Collins of St Kitts & Nevis to the 2003 World Championship gold medal in Paris.

Bolt's victory was even more impressive, given the fact that he had the second-to-last work reaction time at the start (.165) and he had no following wind (0.0 m/s).

Norman Peart, Usain Bolt's manager; Jennifer Bolt, the sprinter's mom; and Mizicann Evans, Bolt's girlfriend, among the Jamaicans in China enjoying the Olympic Games yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

"I'm just happy and thank the Lord that he was able to do it and come out healthy and sound," Mills said, adding that the 200m gold is next on the agenda.

"With the 200, our objective is to win. We're going to try to save as much (energy) as possible in the rounds... we have two rounds on one day before it peters out, so once he gets through the first day we'll be okay," added the sprint guru.

The 200m is scheduled to begin on August 18 with the heats and quarter-finals, to be followed by the semi-finals and final on the 19th and 20th.

Bolt, who became only the second Caribbean athlete to win the 100m gold after Trinidad & Tobago's Hasely Crawford in 1972, said he was proud to better the silver medals of Jamaican icons Herb McKenley (1952), Lennox Miller (1968) and Donald Quarrie (1976).

"I'm just happy I did the country proud... that was the aim for me and I'll be working harder to even make the country prouder in the 200 metres," Bolt said, noting that he never intended to shatter the 100m world record.

He also shaved 0.15 seconds off Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey's Olympic record established at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

"I just have one aim, and that is to be a triple gold medallist at this Olympics," said Bolt, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on August 21.

Jamaica's two other competitors in the final, which comprised six Caribbean athletes - Asafa Powell and Michael Frater - both from the MVP club, finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in 9.95 and 9.97 (PR).

Powell, who was failing to win a medal in his second Olympics after placing fifth in Athens, told the Sunday Observer that "My legs felt dead. I just was not ready for four rounds after my injuries this season".

All three athletes were personally congratulated by Prime Minister Bruce Golding by and phone and Sports Minister Olivia Grange in person, while they spoke with the international press.

"Now that Usain has really done extraordinarily well, we're going to have to do something extra special for him," Grange said.

The silver medal went to Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago in a career best 9.89, while American Walter Dix did his lifetime best of 9.91 for the bronze.

Tyson Gay, who was expected to challenge for a medal, crashed out in the semi-finals.

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