On Sunday, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won a gold medal, his third consecutive Olympic victory in the men’s 100-meter race.
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Of course, Bolt isn’t actually in the final just yet, but having won his 200m heat at a canter, it’s unlikely that he’ll have any trouble progressing from his semi-final on Wednesday. Theres no way you can run and go back around and run fast times again..
Luckily for the internet, Getty Images photographer Cameron Spencer captured a photo that could not have described the night more perfectly. At the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, photographer Oliver Morin captured an awesome photo of Bolt sprinting just as lightning flashed above the stadium.
The planets looked to be aligning for Gatlin when he raced into an early lead on Sunday and stayed there for the first 70 meters, but that was the point where the difference between good and great became clear to the millions watching around the world. “I wasn’t anxious. After the semifinals my confidence went way up because I executed really well”.
If history is any guide, Bolt should run the 200-meter race in roughly 19.62 seconds, nearly a half-second faster than Gatlin’s bronze-winning mark at the 2004 Athens Games, the last time Gatlin competed in this event at the Olympics.
The closest Bolt has come to his 2009 record is the 19.32sec he clocked in winning the gold at the London Olympics in 2012.
“I’d like to stay in the sport to continue inspiring youngsters”, he said. “I was like ‘Yo, I probably could run a fast time, ‘” he said.
Bolt has said that he’s planning to hang up his running shoes for good soon.
In the most widely cited case of schedule shifting, the opening round of the womens 200 was moved from Monday evening to the day session at the request of one of Americas best-known athletes, Allyson Felix, who wanted to try for gold medals in both the 200 and the 400.
“It wasn’t ideal today, but I got it done and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved”, Bolt said. Usain Bolt gets his third gold medal in the 100 meters.
See the gallery above for Usain Bolt’s best moments. “That’s the thing I really want”. “You can’t stay up too late, but how could I not stay up to watch the women’s 400 final last night?”
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“I would say no, right now”, says Jamaican journalist Zahra Burton, an avid track and field fan who’s based in Kingston.
