In terms of medals, Usain Bolt now joins the ranks of American sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis, who also has nine Olympic gold medals after claiming victory in the 100m, 4x100m relay, and four times in the long jump event which, Fox News has claimed, makes him an arguably better all-round athlete.
Advertisement
“Yeah, this is the last one, guys”, said the champion, who turns 30 on Sunday, the same day the Olympic cauldron is extinguished.
Bolt, who just days earlier had become the first man in history to win three 100m titles in a row, surged to victory in the 200m in 19.78sec at the Olympic Stadium. “So, I’m happy. I have relief it’s over”.
“I never knew this would happen when I started out”, Bolt told BBC Sport. I came through and I’m just proud of myself. “I told them all to wait around. All of them mean the world to me – it’s nine”.
Bolt turned a close 4×100 relay race against Japan and the United States into a runaway as Jamaica crossed the line in 37.27 to win gold at the Rio Games.
Beattie says whether a similar deal could be struck to bring him Down Under is unknown but organisers will be discussing their options when they meet the Commonwealth Games Federation in October. While many fans are still stunned by the record-making feat, there is one person that never once doubted his ability to get the unprecedented “treble” – his girlfriend, Kasi Bennett. “It’s been wonderful and I really appreciate you guys”. By London 2012, when Dad and I called each other every day during the Games, we anticipated every Jamaica-USA showdown.
Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake did the job in the first two legs and when Nickel Ashmeade handed Bolt the baton, he was possibly a step behind Japan’s Aska Cambridge and Bromell.
The world’s fastest man blew kisses to the stands. I’m gonna miss the competition. “It’s been a great career”.
“I’m going to stay up late and have fun”. He declared after his 200m success on Thursday night that his legs refused to go faster and he felt exhausted. “All that hard work just crumbles”, said Gatlin. “I have been doing this sport for more than 10 years now”, Liu added.
He remains, though, utterly dominant. That is all relative, though. It was still the fourth fastest time in history.
From that point there was only ever going to be one outcome and Bolt powered home by three metres to universal delight.
Bolt will now set off a year-long lap of honour that will culminate with the World Championships in London next August.
“The adversity yesterday made us even more determined and we kept fighting the whole way through”, said Felix. He broke his own 100 mark in the 2008 Beijing Olympics despite celebrating before he had hit the finish.
But the USA was disqualified for a pass outside the exchange lane and the bronze went instead to Canada, something the Americans didn’t realize until they were trotting around the track draped in flags and smiles.
Rodgers and Gatlin both said afterward they thought the pass was legal.
“You work so hard with your team-mates for that moment when you can come together”.
Advertisement
Counting all the preliminaries, finals and his approximately nine-second blast down the stretch in Friday’s final race, Bolt has spent 325 seconds a tad less than 5 1/2 minutes sprinting on the track at the Olympics since he made his debut in Beijing eight years ago.
