False start.
Popped hamstring.
Botched exchange.
Lots of things could have gone wrong for Team Jamaica Gold in the 4x100 relay before Usain Bolt got the baton and the green light to blaze into Penn Relays and Philadelphia sports lore Saturday afternoon.
If possible, Bolt was better than advertised. He thrilled the largest crowd in the history of the world's oldest track and field carnival with a breathtaking, gravity-defying anchor leg that brought the Jamaicans home in a meet- and Franklin Field-record time of 37.9 seconds.
But this was a relay, remember. Bolt might be the world's fastest man. He still needed lots of help to win a 4x100 against a loaded and motivated international field.
"I told the guys to make sure I didn't have to work because I didn't want to do much," Bolt said after his first competition of the 2010 season. "I got the baton pretty much in front, so I wasn't really worried."
The buildup to Bolt's brief, brilliant burst - his 100-meter split was timed in an astounding 8.79 seconds - began a month ago. That's when Penn Relays officials announced that the world record-holder in the 100 and 200 meters would compete in the USA vs. the World series.
That murmur of anticipation rose to a roar when Bolt and his teammates took the infield early Saturday afternoon. It ratcheted up again when the 6-foot-5 athlete left a fenced-off area and took a few warm-up strides down the middle of the field.
"I couldn't hear my music through my headphones," said Lisa Barber, a member of the victorious USA Blue team in the women's 4x100.
By the time Bolt took his place on the northeast corner of the track, the crowd was so stoked that Penn Relays public address announcer Ron Lopresti was forced into the thankless role of overmatched teacher of an unruly class: asking everybody to sit down and shut up.
Without success, naturally.
"The starter was telling the crowd to be quiet," Bolt said. "That's one in a million. When you go anywhere else in the world, they are quiet. You get in front of Jamaicans, and they make noise."
Bolt's teammates, little-known members of his track club in Jamaica, were the unsung heroes of this spectacular show. They were flawless during the first three legs: Mario Forsythe to Yohan Blake to Marvin Anderson to the Man of the Moment.
Relays are never just about speed. They also are about synchronicity.
That was the Jamaicans' big edge - well, other than having the fastest man in the history of the planet on their side - as their smooth handoffs were in marked contrast to ragged exchanges by USA Blue, the best American team.
"We just had some bad handoffs," USA Blue anchor Ivory Williams said.
Bolt runs as if he's part human, part hovercraft. He seemed to be gliding above the track as he came around the curve and soared down the stretch.
He was all alone, as usual. He took a solo victory lap, too.
But as Usain Bolt was flying down the track like an arrow, it was worth noting that his unheralded teammates had been the bow.