Photographer of Usain Bolt-lightning bolt image calls it ‘pure luck’
By Josh Sanchez
All eyes at during 100 meters at the World Championships on Sunday where on Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. One man who was paying especially close to Bolt’s actions on the track was 47-year-old Italian photographer Olivier Morin. When Morin was sitting about 30 meters past the finish line at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, he could have never imagined what the night was about to bring.
Morin was looking at small images of the photos and didn’t truly recognize what he had just captured on his cameras, but when he did, he immediately recognized how unique the picture was. However, he didn’t understand that the photo would be met with such a reaction.
“At this moment when I saw the lightning, I thought it’s kind of special photo,” Morin said, via NBC Sports. “A good photo. But I underestimated the reaction of this picture.”
Morin used five remote cameras and his regular camera to catch Bolt’s reaction after crossing the finish line and he could have never imagined the photo that he was able to capture after Bolt was preparing to celebrate his win in the 100-meter.
“When I looked at my remote pictures, I was looking at my pictures as little images (on my laptop),” Morin said. “I didn’t see the lightning bolt was in it (at first). I opened the pictures, and I saw four pictures with the lightning. Two were not usable. There were two more where the lightning was clean and Usain Bolt was in the picture.”
While Morin knew he had something special on his hands, he was more impressed with the fact that Bolt had such a come reaction following his win and with the lightning in the background. To him, that is what made the photograph truly special.
“He was without reaction,” Morin said. “The finish line was kind of neutral for him. That’s why this picture, if not for the lightning, I would not have used. There was nothing with this picture; 99 percent of this picture is the lightning. It’s pure luck.”
Luckily for all of us, the pure luck led to an incredible sports photo that we will not soon forget.