The Jamaican has now become the first sprinter in history to claim three 100m Olympic titles.
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The sprinter, who was competing in his first ever Olympic final on Sunday night, came in third in the men’s 100 metre dash, in a personal best time of 9.91 seconds.
Even a lumbering start couldn’t slow down the world’s fastest man. My coach said aside from me, he was the only one who could break that world record.
Bolt admitted his performance in the final was far from ideal and blamed a timetable he branded “ridiculous” and “stupid” for his failure to go quicker, with the short-turnaround after the semi-final leaving little time to recover and go again.
Bolt will continue his hunt for more gold on Monday with the 200-meter semifinals on Tuesday, followed by the final on Thursday, as well as the semifinal of the 4×100-meter relay.
Yet Bolt may describe this part of his race as sluggish oncemore, as Gatlin left him looking like he was stuck in treacle in the opening stages. “When it comes away from track, there is no rivalry”.
“There is no bad blood”.
“It wasn’t flawless execution, but I’m proud of myself”.
“I hope he can say the same for me”. “But for me I didn’t care about that”. I just ask people, when they come out here, they’re getting enthralled in the excitement, I understand that.
American Johnson also holds the 300m world record, his 30.85sec eclipsing Bolt’s second-best of 30.97, with Van Niekerk lying third in the rankings with 31.03.
Van Niekerk trained with Bolt in Jamaica ahead of the Games.
“The living legend prove himself once again, I feel so proud to be a Jamaican”, said one fan in the Half Tree Way area of the Jamaican capital of Kingston. Spectators sometimes do not get to witness his top speed due to the ease of his races against the majority of the rest of the world.
“I expected to go faster, but I’m happy that I won”.
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So while it may seem like luck (right place, right time), it takes years of experience and technique to be ready to capture an iconic moment that happens in the blink of an eye.
