Just as they did in the London Games in 1948 through Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley, Jamaican men delivered an Olympic 1-2 that rocked their island yesterday.

Within seconds of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake flashing across the finish line to finish first and second in the 100 metres final in London 2012, pandemonium broke out at various points where their countrymen back home had gathered to view the race.

In front of the giant screen located at Half-way Tree in the capital, the vuvuzelas were out in force. Men and women were jumping up and down, mini Jamaica flags in their hands waving furiously.

One rastaman in the middle of the crowd was silent, choosing instead to do the "Lightning Bolt" in imitation of the world record holder who had just broken his own Olympic record with a 9.63 clocking.

Soon enough the chant of "Bolt! Bolt! Bolt!" was sounding in the crowd.

It was an overcast afternoon. Tropical Storm Ernesto was making its approach somewhere off Jamaica's southern coast.

With that in mind, there was a crowd inside the Megamart supermarket getting their essentials. But Olympic fever was raging in there, too.

Employees and shoppers alike were glued to the TV screen and were just as ecstatic as the Half-way Tree crowd when the race was over.

"My heart was beating so fast, I almost had a heart attack. Bolt! Jamaica, our 50th!" blurted out one woman.

Callers to TV programmes were also in a celebratory mood.

"Oh my God, I am so happy!" declared another woman. "I'm a born Jamaican!...Ah proud ah dem!"

The medals for Bolt and Blake, celebrated though they were, Jamaicans also expressed much sympathy for another of their favourites, Asafa Powell. Powell's long-standing groin injury left him trailing the field, including Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson, whose time of 9.98 was the slowest except for Powell in what was the fastest Olympic 100 final in history, with seven of the eight men ducking under 10 seconds.

Said one sympathiser: "I was really disappointed with Asafa. What happened there was really sad...But Big up to Asafa, big up to Usain and big up to Yohan Blake, they really did well."

On Saturday, the golden celebrations had begun when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce retained her women's 100 metres title in 10.75 seconds.

Also offering congratulations to the athletes yesterday on the eve of the country's 50th Independence Day celebrations were Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller and Leader of the Opposition Andrew Holness.