BEIJING — Usain Bolt was too busy dancing in celebration to worry about world records.

Maybe that's why the Jamaican sprinter keeps setting world records.

Bolt's mind-melting performance in the 100 meters here yesterday had everyone in the Bird's Nest shaking their heads: the fans with wonder, his competitors with awe and purists with something like disappointment.

The last was because Bolt checked to see he had an insurmountable lead and, with about 20 meters left, downshifted and coasted to the gold medal. He put his arms out, then pounded his chest as he crossed the finish line.

"It wasn't planned," Bolt said. "I was celebrating. I was happy myself. I came out to be a world champion, not to break the world record. I already had the world record."

Imagine running the 100 meters in a world- and Olympic-record 9.69 seconds and leaving people wondering how fast you really could have gone.

"I could see him slowing down and I'm still pumping to the line," said silver medalist Richard Thompson of Trinidad/Tobago, who ran a 9.89. "He's a phenomenal athlete. I don't think anyone could have beaten him with a run like that."

American Walter Dix captured bronze in a field without teammate Tyson Gay. Still struggling to regain form after a hamstring injury sustained last month at the U.S. trials, Gay finished fifth in a semifinal heat and failed to qualify.

The much-hyped, three-way showdown never really materialized.

Gay was out and former world-record holder Asafa Powell finished fifth in the final.

The 6-foot-5 Bolt's breathtaking dash made everyone forget about his rivals.

"He's in a league of his own," said American Darvis Patton, who finished eighth in 10.03 seconds. "How do you deal with (Michael) Jordan or LeBron (James)? Usain Bolt is a freak of nature."

But still there was that nagging, unanswerable question: How much time could Bolt have shaved off his 10-week-old world record of 9.72 seconds? It's not out of the question he could have gotten below 9.6, which would have been a positively Phelpsian performance.

Bolt was asked variations on the question over and over after the race. He just didn't get why people cared. He won, right?

"I wanted to be Olympic champion and I accomplished that," Bolt said. "I have plenty of time for records."

WOMEN'S MARATHON

BEIJING — Romania's Constantina Tomescu-Dita soared into the Bird's Nest, turning the Olympic marathon into a one-woman race. Tomescu-Dita pulled away from the lead pack near the halfway mark today to win by 22 seconds over her nearest challenger. She won in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 44 seconds. Reigning world champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya outsprinted China's Zhou Chunxiu for the silver for China's first medal in track and field. Another Chinese runner, Zhu Xiaolin, was fourth. American record holder Deena Kastor, the bronze medalist in Athens four years ago, pulled out just over 3 miles into the race with an injured right foot.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

BEIJING — Athens gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor are in the beach volleyball semifinals, beating Brazilians Ana Paula and Larissa, 21-18, 21-15, today for their 106th consecutive victory. A victory by Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs would give the United States half of the final four. Yesterday, Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal advanced to the quarterfinals in men's beach volleyball with a 26-24, 21-17 victory over Spain.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

BEIJING — By beating Spain, the "Redeem Team" clinched first place in its group. Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony each scored 16 points and the Americans made 48 percent of their 3-pointers to rout the reigning world champions.

LeBron James scored 18 points for the United States (4-0).

SOFTBALL

BEIJING — The American juggernaut crushed another opponent, with Jessica Mendoza hitting her third home run in two days and Jennie Finch pitching five shutout innings for a 7-0 victory over Taiwan. The U.S. has outscored its foes 36-1, have allowed just four hits in 29 innings, and have now won 19 straight Olympic games.

TENNIS

BEIJING — Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka took the men's doubles title yesterday, while Venus and Serena Williams clinched at least a silver medal in doubles. The Williamses beat Ukraine's Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko to advance to the gold-medal match against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. Federer and Wawrinka beat Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Russia will win women's singles with countrymates Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva squaring off. American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won the bronze in men's doubles and Novak Djokovic beat American James Blake for bronze in men's singles.

BASEBALL

BEIJING — Brian Barden homered and had a tying double and Terry Tiffee doubled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh in a 5-4 victory over Canada yesterday.

SHOOTING

BEIJING — American Vincent Hancock won the gold medal in skeet shooting, beating Norwegian Tore Brovold in a shoot-off yesterday. Brovold forced the tiebreaker with a perfect final round, hitting all 25 targets to pull even with Hancock at 145. Brovold and Hancock each hit the first two targets of the shoot-off, but then Brovold missed one of two and Hancock hit both. Anthony Terras of France won the bronze, beating Antonis Nikolaidis of Cyprus in a shoot-off.

BOXING

BEIJING — Americans Shawn Estrada and Luis Yanez lost, leaving only two U.S. fighters in the tournament. Yanez tied his match against Mongolia's Serdamba Purevdorj after three rounds, but couldn't pull it out. Estrada lost to James Degale, a hard-punching Brit.

FENCING

BEIJING — The U.S. trio of Emily Cross, Erinn Smart and Hannah Thompson settled for silver in team foil, losing the final match to Russia, 28-11. It's the first ever medal for Americans in women's foil and the first for the U.S. in all of foil since 1960.

WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEY

BEIJING — The U.S. women got their first win of the tournament, beating winless New Zealand, 4-1, yesterday. With one game left, the Americans still have a chance of making the semifinal round.