Bolt, whose father says owes his speed and power to the local yam vegetable, charged to a world record time of 19.30 seconds, falling to the floor in joy at the end.

“I’m Number One,” he mouthed at TV cameras, beating his chest and blowing kisses at the 91,000 crowd in the Bird’s Nest.

Bolt had won the 100m at the showcase Olympic stadium in swashbuckling style at the weekend, also setting a world record.

This time, he again joked on his way to the block, firing an imaginary arrow in the air, but looked deadly serious as he opened up a big gap and steamed through the finishing line to beat Michael Johnson’s 1996 record by two hundredths of a second. Dubbing Bolt “Superman 2”, Johnson — commentating on the race for the BBC — said: “I looked at his start and just went, ‘Wow’. Guys that tall should not be able to start like that ... He used every ounce of energy, he wanted that record.”

Nine men have now won the double sprint in Olympic history.

Bolt, who turns 22 on Thursday, has established himself as the joint hero of the Games along with American swimmer Michael Phelps who took an unprecedented eight golds.

Just as Phelps’s exploits in the Water Cube, passing Mark Spitz’s 1972 Munich record, have thrilled Americans, so Bolt has swelled national pride across his Caribbean homeland.

The lanky runner started sprinting only when a school cricket coach noticed his speed as a fast bowler.

Right after Bolt’s triumph, Melaine Walker added to Jamaica’s joy by taking gold in the women’s 400 meters hurdles.

While her team mate Bolt and America’s Phelps have given the standout individual performances so far in the Aug. 8-24 Games, it is team China whose overall record has dazzled the world.

The hosts, who came second to the United States in Athens 2004, have 45 gold medals, a seemingly unassailable lead that marks their emergence as an Olympics superpower.

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