Those were the words Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt said after he finished the 4x100m relay Friday night (Aug. 19), earning him his 3rd gold medal this year and 9th in his career.
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It was the ideal way for the sport’s biggest star to leave its biggest stage.
The win means Bolt, who turns 30 today, has become the first man in history to complete the “triple-triple” – in the United States dubbed the “threepeat” – by winning the 100m, 200m and sprint relay titles at three consecutive Olympic Games.
Speaking after his victory on Friday, the star said: “I’ve worked hard every Olympics to win three gold medals”.
“I’m happy I’ve accomplished so much”.
“I just have mixed feelings now”, he told reporters. I have proved it over and over again that I have done it clean. “If his time is up I guess a new person has to come in”.
“And they did exactly that, I had no work to do, just to run to the line”.
It was a golden goodbye for Usain Bolt who led his Jamaican teammates to victory in the men’s 4×100 relay.
“There you go. I’m the greatest”, said the grinning Jamaican, who returned to the track after most of the lights had been turned off.
As with the individual sprints, Bolt was ahead by a comfortable margin as he crossed the finish line. We get to know the women that owns the heart of the fastest man alive a little better. It was the end of an era.
“I’ll stay up late tonight”, Bolt said when asked how he’d celebrate. I’ve had injury problems, but I’m also sad that I have to leave.
Blake made an attempt to persuade 100m and 200m world-record holder Bolt to continue for another four years, saying: “Usain needs to be immortal and he is immortal”. And they still couldn’t catch him. He declared after his 200m success on Thursday night that his legs refused to go faster and he felt exhausted.
“Woke up this morning and felt like I wanted to be a nine-time Olympic gold medallist – and then I remember I am that guy”. “It’s just sweat and tears”. That is all relative, though. It’s great to be in the history books as one of the greatest.
De Grasse is considered one of the men most likely to step into the huge void left by Bolt when he retires after next year’s world championships in London.
The International Olympic Committee re-tested 454 samples from Beijing, but so far only 14 Russians and one Spaniard have been named among 31 athletes whose sampled came back positive.
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Bolt fans in Jamaica also partied like they had won three medals at the Rio Games with national pride spilling from noisy street celebrations. “It was a nightmare”, said Gatlin, who, along with his teammates, found out about the DQ while parading the USA flag around the track.
