After a month in track and field in which former world's fastest man Tim Montgomery was sentenced to nearly four years in prison and one-time whistle-blowing coach Trevor Graham was convicted, the sport needed a jolt of good news.

What it got was a Bolt.

Last night on Randall's Island, Usain Bolt broke the world record in the 100-meter dash, breaking the tape in 9.72 seconds to shave .02 seconds off Jamaican countryman Asafa Powell's mark.

"I had an idea I could do this," Bolt said. "I didn't run a perfect race (at the Hampton Games) in Trinidad (in mid-May), and I still ran 9.92."

When Bolt did run his race, two weeks earlier at the Jamaica International, he posted a 9.76, then the second-fastest time in history. That was why last night's Reebok Grand Prix, featuring American Tyson Gay, the 2007 world champion, loomed as a big event.

But the meet at Icahn Stadium began an hour late because of early-afternoon rains, and another rainstorm halted matters for 45 minutes midway through. Bolt and Gay didn't get on the track until almost 11:15 - then a false start delayed the record-setting run some more, not exactly a world record-setting environment.