Usain and the lightning bolt – the story behind the photograph

It is an image that is almost certain never to be repeated, but the photographer who pictured Usain Bolt winning 100m gold to a backdrop of purple lightning has downplayed his role in the headline-making shot.

Olivier Morin, a Agence France Presse (AFP) photographer, said he gave himself credit for "one percent" of the picture that travelled across the globe within seconds of Bolt crossing the line at the Moscow World Athletics Championships on Sunday night.

"It's of course the lightning that makes the photo, because we're talking about Usain Bolt here. Without the flash in the sky, it wouldn't really be anything that special. I knew it was a good shot, but I didn't anticipate the amount of reaction it would get," said Morin.

"This was, I think, a once-in-a-lifetime moment. In my 25 years as a photographer, I've never had an uncontrollable external element make a photo like this, and I imagine if I tried again for a similar result for the next 50 years, it wouldn't happen again. So, I only really give myself credit for one percent of this picture."

Morin admitted that he initially missed the sharp lightning bolt when he viewed a thumbnail of his photograph. Two of the four that showed the purple bolt were unusable, he said, but the other pair made him realise that he had "gotten 'the' shot".

He wrote on AFP's correspondents' blog: "Let's be honest: the only things I was able to control were the framing of the shot and when to hit the remote-controlled trigger.

"The flash of lightning – well, of course that can't be planned, even if the stormy sky had been rumbling for 20 minutes and all of us photographers were trying to capture a lightning bolt."

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