The tally could have been higher, too, had the USA men’s 4×100 team not been disqualified after finishing third in the subsequent final. The final round is scheduled for Sunday, when the Americans will face either Australia or Serbia for a possible third consecutive gold medal.
Advertisement
The Jamaican legend who took the running track track for the penultimate time ended his career on a high with 9 Olympic medals maximum for a sprinter in history.
Two days shy of his 30th birthday, Bolt anchored his country to victory in 37.27 seconds so adding the relay crown to the 100 and 200 metres titles he has owned since exploding onto the Olympic stage in Beijing in 2008.
And the US team, which initially was awarded the bronze, was later disqualified because officials ruled Mike Rodgers’ pass to Justin Gatlin came too early, before the legal exchange zone.
Jamaica clocked 37.27 seconds, beating second-placed Japan by 0.33.
The U.S. women’s water polo team beat Italy on Friday, 12-5, in the Olympic final, stretching their winning streak to 22 games in a row.
Japan, known for its precise baton passes, won the silver in 37.60. The team got a chance to compete only after it was granted the rerun following a protest. The Americans dropped the baton in the preliminaries but proved that they were bumped on the handoff. Alise Post took silver in the women’s BMX, finishing behind Colombia’s Mariana Pajon. American Jenn Suhr dropped out of medal contention when she failed to clear 4.70 meters.
“Adversity sometimes makes you stronger”, she said.
While the United States enters the final full day of the track and field competition having won 27 medals at Olympic Stadium – including 10 golds – no one has had a tougher trip to Rio de Janeiro than pole vaulter Jenn Suhr.
U.S. appeared to have won bronze, but were disqualified after replays showed Bromell stepping into Bolt’s lane in the race’s final metres. The U.S. team lodged a protest, hoping to get the medal back. But the efforts of the Olympic week appeared to catch up with her as she slumped late in the Saturday night race. Germany had previously won three bronze medals, and Sweden had never reached an Olympic podium.
It was the only medal that Bolt was going for that required the input of anyone else but Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade gave the double sprint world record holder the narrowest of leads at the final exchange. This is our fourth Olympics.
The U.S. team has been on such a run, that Bowie takes it in stride. The Italians also ousted the American squad at the London Games four years ago.
– Korean Inbee Park remains the leader through three rounds of the women’s golf tournament. Ko made the first hole-in-one of her career as she raced into contention with a 65. He is truly one of the greatest athletes of our or any time.
Advertisement
Bolt, though, will go down as one of the greatest athletes ever as his nine gold medals equals the record held by United States of America sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis and Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi.
