“It’s been wonderful and I really appreciate you guys, it’s been nothing but love, it gives me goosebumps. I just come to work and stay focused”.
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In the lead-up to the Olympics, Bolt insisted the time is approaching.
He joins an exclusive group of athletes to boast nine Olympic gold medals, with the membership containing gymnastics star Larisa Latynina, Finnish long-distance ace Paavo Nurmi, American swimmer Mark Spitz and versatile speedster Carl Lewis. None of the races was particularly close.
Running the anchor, Bolt again carried his team over the line, and the Americans again were left helpless. The U.S. team of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Trayvon Bromell that took third in 37.62 seconds was later disqualified for what’s believed to be a lane violation on their first baton exchange.
Japan won the silver medal, finishing.33 seconds behind.
If the ruling stands, it will mark the ninth time since 1995 the USA men have been disqualified or failed to get the baton around at Olympics or world championships.
While his place among the all-time legends of sport is a question that will divide opinion, he is in no doubt as to where he stands among track and field greats. Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it.
“Sometimes adversity makes you strong”.
“I’ve made the sport exciting, made people want to see the sport”, he said. “We wanted to keep going”. They dropped the baton in their heat and appeared to be out of the competition.
Ryoto Yamagata ran a blistering opening leg for Japan, who won a stunning silver for their first Olympic medal in the sprint relay in 37.60, improving the Asian record they set in qualifying. It was still the fourth fastest time in history.
It was a fantastic day for the United States in athletics, as Ashton Eaton became only the second man to successfully defend the Olympic decathlon title, Ryan Crouser triumphed in the shot put, and the men’s and women’s 400-metre hurdles were won by Kerron Clement and Dalilah Muhammad, respectively.
And Cuba’s three-time amateur world champion boxer Julio Cesar La Cruz bamboozled Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov to win the light-heavyweight title.
On Friday, the Kenyans were counting on a medal in the 5,000 meters – they got gold and silver.
But, like all world-class sportsmen, Bolt is a perfectionist who still felt slightly disappointed after winning yet another gold medal.
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This is not the Bolt of eight years ago, when he stormed to his 100m and 200m world records in Beijing, nor even of four years ago when he blitzed the field in London. “The key thing is I won which is what I came to do”. Last night, rain affected the a number of the times recorded, and although the forecast for the race is a cloudy but humid outset, the possibility or rain again could inhibit the potential of a world record being broken tonight.
