The natural

Ten kids from the Los Angeles-based STAR after-school program accomplished something Tuesday most world-class sprinters haven’t done in a while: They outraced the world’s fastest man, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, over 100 meters.

And the three-time Olympic champion was happy to lose because those kids and others will gain from it.

One of Bolt’s sponsors, the luxury watch company Hublot, promised to donate $10,000 to his child-focused foundation for each kid who beat him to the finish line on a makeshift track set up at Greystone Park. Hublot and Bolt also promised to help the nonprofit STAR program create an athletic competition for kids it serves.

The man who electrified global audiences at the Beijing Olympics with world-record victories in the 100 and 200 -- and lowered those records a year later to 9.58 seconds in the 100 and 19.19 over 200 -- was equally impressive before a small audience Tuesday. He charmed the kids and their chaperones with his easy humor, struck his famed “Lighting Bolt” pose and took as many pictures of them as they did of him.

“As someone who works with kids as a career, you know who’s natural with kids and who’s not. He’s a natural,” said Scott McGowan, STAR’s co-director of sports programs. “The great thing is seeing how impressed he is with the kids. He probably has fans for life now.”

Bolt also ensured his foundation will get $100,000 to promote educational and health programs in his homeland. The kids at Greystone Park got the memory of a lifetime and a friend to cheer for next summer at the London Olympics.

“For me it’s a lot of fun. I really like to work with kids because they’re so full of energy,” Bolt said.

“I remember when I was young, my mom had to take me to the doctor because I was so energetic, I was all over the place. For me to be with these kids and see the energy, it brings back joy and memories of when I was young.”

Bolt, 25, initially preferred cricket to running and wasn’t the most serious of athletes from the outset. Then, too, he heard skeptics say he wasn’t built for sprinting as he grew to a powerful 6 feet 5.

“They said that I was probably too tall, I should go run the 400 meters,” he said. “But now I think they have a different opinion.”

He missed a chance to add another 100-meter world title when he was charged with a false start and disqualified in the final at the world championships in South Korea last month. The year-old rule is controversial; previously, the first false start was charged to the field and the second led to disqualification.

Bolt ripped off his singlet and slammed the wall but later congratulated winner Yohan Blake, his training partner. Although Blake’s twitch might have led Bolt to make that false start, he took responsibility for his misfortune.

“I wasn’t really too happy with myself. The real reason it happened is I wasn’t being myself,” Bolt said. “I had too much anxiety. I learned I must always be myself.”

He was his blazing self in winning the 200 in 19.40 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever, and in anchoring Jamaica’s 400-meter relay in a world-record 37.04 seconds.

He’s now taking some time off, visiting Los Angeles for a few days before making his first visit to Las Vegas. He will resume training in October but won’t compete indoors.

Everything he does now is focused on the London Games. He wouldn’t say how fast he expects to go -- but “very” sums it up.

“I think breaking the record next year is definitely going to be needed on that day,” he said.

He’s just the guy to do it.

“My ultimate dream is to go to the Olympics and wow people,” he said. “I want to be a legend.”

To a lot of kids, he already is.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com

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