Jamaica’s Usain Bolt became the first athlete to win three Olympic 100m titles by beating American Justin Gatlin to gold at Rio 2016.
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Also qualifying for Thursday’s semi-finals, with the final scheduled for Saturday, are Kiprop’s team-mate Ronald Kwemoi as well as Morocco’s world bronze medallist Abdalaati Iguider, Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman and American duo Ben Blankenship and Matther Centrowitz.
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 unbelievable photo of Bolt sprinting just as lightning flashed above the stadium.
“I came here to win three gold medals, I came here to prove myself as one of the greats”, Bolt said.
Bolt and Gatlin said they ran slower races because of the short recovery time they had between events, believed to be due to broadcasters’ demands – which cut their usual rest between semi and final from more than two hours to a little less than one.
“I wasn’t anxious; after the semis I think my confidence went way up because I knew I executed really well”. “When I saw that I won I felt good, it was a relief because I personally think it is my weakest event so it was a relief to get it done”.
“He’s going to be good”, said Bolt following the race. “You hear the commentators say it all the time”. So for me, it was really stupid.
Bolt, who has clearly taken a liking to De Grasse since the two met over the winter in Jamaica while doing promotional work with Puma, had kind words about the Canadian.
Right now, the only person to come close to Bolt’s 2009 record of 19.19 seconds is Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, who ran a 19.26 in 2011, but Blake hasn’t broken 20 seconds since 2013.
With both Bolt and Gatlin likely racing in their last Games, 21-year-old De Grasse – who ran a personal best time of 9.91 seconds – appears in prime position to take on the mantle of sprint king.
Bolt got the gold, but didn’t break his world record pace of 9.58, and it may have had something to do with the timing of the race itself.
“It is special. When I was 13, I remember I first watched the Olympics, and seeing Usain [Bolt] win gold back-to-back, before I even started track. I never want to lose or do anything bad”.
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The 38-year-old from Sydney, Australia told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday that he has been inundated with congratulations after getting what is already being called one of the most iconic shots of the entire 2016 Olympic Games. “I did what I had to”, Bolt said. “I hope we can keep the tradition going as long as possible”. “But I’m just happy that I won and that’s the key thing”. “But I know – and Andre knows – his race was quite poor”. It was another bronze, just like a year ago at the 2015 world track and field championships in Beijing.
