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The world's fastest man was criticized on Thursday by the head of the International Olympic Committee for showing off after his thrilling gold-medal, world-record breaking win the day before.

Jacques Rogge said Usain Bolt "still has to mature" after the Jamaican sprinter put his face inches from a TV camera, raised his index finger and screamed "I am number one! I am number one!"

Bolt erupted in enthusiasm after he broke a world record Wednesday in the 200-metre sprint at the Beijing Olympic Games.

"I have no problem with him doing a show," Rogge told reporters Thursday. However, he added, "I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish and not make gestures like the one he made in the 100 metres."

Last Saturday, Bolt broke another world record in the 100-metre race and at one point, pulled so far ahead of his opponents that he slowed his pace, outstretched his arms and then pounded his chest before he crossed the finish line.

Rogge said he didn't approve of the "catch me if you can" attitude displayed by the 22 year old.

"That's not the way we perceive being a champion," he said.

The athlete, affectionately known as "lightning bolt" among his peers for his speed, is the first man to ever win gold and break the world record in both races.

Despite the remarkable feat, Rogge said he should have shown some grace.

"He still has to mature," Rogge told reporters Thursday. "I would love him to show more respect for his competitors. That's not the way we perceive being a champion. But he will learn in time. He should shake hands with his competitors and not ignore them. He'll learn that sooner or later. But (he's) a great athlete, of course."

Shawn Crawford, the American sprinter who won the silver medal in the 200 race, said he was not offended by Bolt's actions.

"I guess there's mixed feelings among athletes," he told The Associated Press. "To me, I don't feel like he's being disrespectful. If this guy has worked his tail off, every day, on his knees throwing up like I was in practice, he deserves to dance."

CTV's Lisa LaFlamme said a quick poll on a Beijing street suggested citizens were hardly offended by Bolt and his showmanship.

"(They're) saying the only pure, unscripted moment is that jubilation that an athlete expresses immediately following a victory," she told Â鶹ӰÊÓnet in a telephone interview from Beijing.

Though Bolt made little effort to congratulate his opponents, choosing rather to wrap himself in the Jamaican flag, do a solo victory lap and dance to reggae music blaring on the loudspeakers, LaFlamme said everyone was "so excited and were celebrating with him.

"There were a lot of people stunned that the IOC president could find anything wrong with that," she said.

IOC 'not na�ve'

Rogge also touched on other subjects during his interview with reporters. He said he was "very happy" with how China had managed the games so far but said he would withhold his verdict until Sunday's closing ceremony.

He once again defended the IOC's decision to grant the Olympics to Beijing despite China's questionable human rights record.

We're not naive, nor blind," Rogge said. "We knew there would be criticism."

"I believe these Games have opened up the country," he said. "On one hand, people will understand China better with all its challenges. They will remain critical on many issues, that is their right. On the other hand, the Chinese definitely have experienced that they cannot live in splendid isolation."

Rogge also noted the progress being made in discouraging athletes from doping.

He pointed at the low number of doping cases at the Games so far and said that pre-games testing and other deterrents are working.

"I expect more international athletes got really frightened and scared about using doping," he said. "We are making progress. It's becoming far more difficult to cheat than it was before."

Four athletes have been expelled so far and a fifth, heptathlon silver medalist Lyudmila Blonska of Ukraine, is awaiting a ruling on a positive test.

With files from The Associated Press