Jamaica took gold with a time of 37.27 seconds, winning what was a close race by more than three tenths of a second than silver medalists Japan.
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The gold was the third straight for Bolt and Jamaica in the event, to go along with the individual Olympic triple-double Bolt completed Thursday night in Rio. He couldn’t beat it.
With the victory on Friday night, Bolt tied American sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis and Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi as the only other track and field athletes to win nine golds.
“I’m just happy to have done what I came here to do”.
Mike Rodgers passed the baton to Justin Gatlin on the first exchange, but it happened just outside of the exchange zone.
The U.S. women had to run out of Lane 1 on Friday, making their task hard.
Trayvon Bromell’s dip for the line was so aggressive that he stumbled over and the United States thought they were settling for bronze in 37.62, the first time they had failed to finish in the top two when they started a final.
The world’s fastest man, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Sunday, signed off from his sport’s biggest stage in trademark fashion as he took the baton from Nickel Ashmeade and, knees high and arms pumping, stormed away from second-placed Japan to huge cheers.
Great Britain, from lane one, finished a disappointing sixth.
He glanced to his left to check out the clock just before he crossed. “I’ve told him he should come back for 2020!”
At least the after-party was great.
Breaking his silence Friday, Lochte said he was sorry for his behavior surrounding an early-morning incident at a gas station that in many ways has become the defining moment in Rio. It’s the sprint he worked on from the very beginning. In Beijing, he shocked the world with gold and world records in the 100, 200 and 4×100.
There was the semifinal the night before, when de Grasse quite brazenly made Bolt work all the way to the line to capture a win, which allowed him to race from his favorite lane – Lane 6 – in the final.
Lydia Ko, a 19-year-old Kiwi and the No. 1 player in women’s golf put herself in contention thanks to the first hole-in-one of her career.
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The Jamaican legend who took the running track track for the penultimate time ended his career on a high with 9 Olympic medals maximum for a sprinter in history.
