With yet another gold medal, Jamaican superstar sprinter Usain Bolt has again reinforced what we already knew – Bolt is, because of both the results and the sustainability of his dominance, above and beyond his sport, perhaps more than any athlete alive at the moment.
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Elsewhere, South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk shocked the Olympic Stadium by smashing the world record as he clinched the gold medal in the men’s 400m.
Jason Kenny defeated Callum Skinner in an all-Britain final to defend his cycling individual sprint gold and win his second gold of the Rio Games.
He said: “Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it”. But it was still his third-fastest time at the Olympic Games. When he came to Jamaica, I said to him that he was the only person I thought could break the 400m world record because he’s very fast and he keeps on going so, for me, I wasn’t really surprised that he got it tonight, because he ran really well through the rounds. Young Canadian Andre de Grasse took the bronze with 9.91 seconds.
“Today I can finally relax”, said Shi, who finished with 406.5 points to beat her compatriot He Zi by 18.15 points.
Bolt galloped away in celebration after a superb win, basking in the adulation of the stadium and even taking selfies with fans during his lap of honor. Tomorrow [in the semi-finals] I will show much better progress because I will have to run faster, so I’m looking forward to that.
Gatlin said he had also recovered from Sunday’s 100m final. “Akani Simbine from SA, Justin Gatlin from the US, Jimmy Vicaut from France, Usain Bolt from Jamaica, Canada’s Andre De Grasse, Ivory Coast’s en Youssef Meite and Yohan Blake cross the finish line”.
But at 34 and having made it back from a four-year doping suspension, Gatlin put being edged out by Bolt into perspective afterward.
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No other athlete – man or woman – has ever won three consecutive individual Olympic sprint titles.
