Along comes the jaw-dropping Usain Bolt, who on Friday night became the first man ever to win three consecutive gold medals in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes when he zoomed away from a clumped field as the anchor in the relay.
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Jamaica, which consisted of Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade, topped the table with a time of 37.27s, while Japan and Canada came second and third with times of 37.60s and 37.64s respectively.
Canada were elevated to bronze after their run of 37.64, a national record which gave Andre de Grasse his third medal of the Games after his bronze in the 100m and silver in the 200.
Usain Bolt has written another page in history after claiming an Olympic triple triple by firing the Jamaican men’s 4x100m relay to gold at the Rio Olympics. But his silver-medal finish -.10 ahead of Lemaitre – goes well with the bronze he took in the 100 and may pronounce him as the next great sprinter once Bolt leaves the scene. A previous version had the wrong time for Japan.
Two hours later, carrying portable speakers, Bolt and his teammates danced to reggae music as they entered the news conference. Perhaps some other sprinters can have a chance to win some Olympic gold medals now. As long as we got the baton around, it was never in doubt.
So Bolt seeks a seat among the transformative immortals, a debate a tier above the more humdrum one here about who best rides the Rio Games as its reigning athlete.
Jamaica’s woman’s 4×100 meter relay team did not do as well as the men’s unfortunately, with visibly poor baton changes slowing down the team.
The disqualification for the U.S occurred after replays showed an illegal baton exchange, taking place outside of the zone from the very first change. The Jamaicans won the 2012 Olympic gold medal in 36.84 seconds, a world-record time. Bolt led the Jamaicans to the top of the podium in the event in Beijing and again in London.
WRESTLING UPSET: Defending Olympic and world champion Jordan Burroughs was stunned in the quarterfinals of men’s freestyle wrestling. They were disqualified from the Olympics in 2008 for the same reason. He made them gold medallists.
Asked why he thinks the Americans have so much trouble with baton exchanges, Powell said: “Pressure”.
Great Britain, from lane one, finished a disappointing sixth.
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Barring a surprising comeback at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Friday night’s relay was likely the last Olympic event for the 29-year-old. There was an upset as Vivian Cheruiyot powered past slumping favorite Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia and set an Olympic record of 14 minutes, 26.17 seconds.
