American sprinter Justin Gatlin was disappointed to finish second to Usain Bolt in the 100 meters again Sunday night in Rio. He’ll have to face Bolt – and track and field fans – at least a couple more times here, as Gatlin is competing in the 200-metre dash and the 4×100 relay.
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“Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it”, he said. Two more medals to go and I can sign off.
“I’m actually a little bit speechless for once in my life”, the 31-year-old said.
The surge has been largely led by Canadian swimmers, who took home six medals, including a gold and a silver by Penny Oleksiak. “I’ve learned to move on from things that I really don’t understand or things that don’t turn out the way I wanted”.
That beat Canada’s previous overall record of eight, which it achieved at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi, respectively.
“You have to tune that stuff out”, he said. “He just did that and exemplified that”. “I’d like to see everyone have respect in the audience, as well”. “That was a massacre by Van Niekerk”.
The Jamaican superstar trailed arch-rival Justin Gatlin until the 70 metre mark but then swept past the American, finding time to pat his chest as he crossed the line a metre clear. “With the turnaround time between the semi-final and final we normally have two hours, but we had one hour 20 minutes, it was challenging”.
Also known as the “Lightning Bolt” or just plain “Bolting”, the gesture made its first appearance when the Jamaican runner burst onto the Olympic scene at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Sunday was the race the planet tuned into see and Bolt ensured he would become the first athlete to ever win the 100m three times – and at three straight Olympics. It was not his fastest, but it was enough to bring him another gold medal.
Four men have run quicker over the distance this season, with LaShawn Merritt of the United States leading the times with a best of 19.74sec, set at the US Olympic trials in Eugene on July 8.
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World co-bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell barely advanced to the final on time and finished in last in the final with a time of 10.06.
