Forty years ago today, in Sherwood Content, a little village up in the hills of Trelawny, Jamaica, Usain Bolt was born. Kid grew up playing cricket and football like everybody else, and the running came along after somebody noticed how fast he covered ground.

Here's the stat I keep in my back pocket, teammate. Berlin, 2009, the 100 metres in 9.58. Bolt got it done in roughly 41 strides. Most of the men beside him needed 44 or 45. Think about what that means: he was doing less work than the field and finishing first anyway. For years tall sprinters were told they'd never get out of the blocks cleanly, that all that leg was a liability — and here comes a man around six foot five turning the supposed problem into the whole argument. Same meet, he ran 19.19 in the 200. Both marks still standing.

And I always want to name Glen Mills in this, because a talent that big still has to be pointed somewhere. Mills coached him through the mechanics, the patience, the long seasons nobody televises. Great sprinter, great coach, one small Jamaican village on the map forever. Happy birthday to a man who made the fastest thing in sports look like a guy enjoying his afternoon!