Bolt then went on to demolish the field in the final, winning his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres with a time of 9.81 seconds.
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Usain Bolt declared himself on course for sporting immortality after succeeding in the first part of his Olympic “triple triple” bid by defeating Justin Gatlin to win a third successive 100 metres gold in Rio.
Usain Bolt said he is confident of signing off as an Olympic “immortal” after his 100m win at the Rio Games left him two races from an unprecedented Treble Treble.
“This is what I came here for to prove to the world that I’m the best again”, Bolt said after the scoreboard confirmed him as the victor of the race.
“Somebody said I can become immortal”, he said afterwards.
“I’m really happy but I expected to go faster”, Bolt admitted. The U.S. sprinter burst out of the gates, and charged full speed ahead towards a surefire medal placement, but would it be the coveted gold? “Nobody is ideal. Just because he went through a little incident doesn’t make him a bad person”.
The world record holder previously insisted Rio will be his last appearance at an Olympic Games after securing six gold medals from Beijing in 2008 and London 2012.
In again beating Gatlin, the last man to win an Olympic 100m gold before Bolt’s arrival, Bolt removed the veneer of the most hyperbolic rivalries of modern sport. “I’m feeling pretty good right now”.
It set up a final showdown with American Justin Gatlin, who also controlled his semi-final, clocking 9.94. I just ask people, when they come out here, they’re getting enthralled in the excitement, I understand that.
Van Niekerk, running in the unfavoured lane eight, blasted off the final corner to time 0.15sec quicker than Johnson’s previous world best set in Seville in 1999, a record that had taken on mythical-like standing. And I have the respect of my own competitors in the 100m.
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“When I crossed the line I looked up at the screen because I had tunnel vision and I didn’t even know where I was placed at so to see that I was second, I was honoured with that”. “I’m making mistakes I never made earlier in my career”, she said.
