Usain Bolt wrote his name into the history books once more as he stormed to a third consecutive 100m gold in Rio.
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In winning with a time of 9.81 seconds, Bolt became the first person to claim gold in the distance in three straight games. Gatlin took the silver in 9.89.
RIO DE JANEIRO-Over the past eight years, Usain Bolt has transformed the single most elemental contest in all of sport-the running of one hundred meters-into a three-part act of performance art. Carl Lewis is the only other man to have won back-to-back titles.
Bolt will be back later in the Olympics, as the favorite in the 200 and as part of the Jamaican 4×100 relay. “Saw Bolt go at about 70, 80 (metres) and tried to go with him, but he just had that extra gear”.
Having warmed up the crowd by strolling his heat, head on a swivel as he crossed the line, Bolt made his second entrance of the night, for his final, shortly after 10pm.
Last summer, De Grasse and Bromell tied for the bronze medal in the 100 meters at the world championships.
Bolt, long since cast as the saviour of a sport assailed on all sides by corrosive doubts and doping allegations that have intensified in the past 12 months, said he hoped a new generation of athletes would learn from his sense of showmanship once he had left the stage. “Two more medals to go and I can sign off. Immortal”.
Afterwards, the two shared congratulations, much as they did while standing on the podium at the 2015 world championships.
Andre de Grasse of Canada took bronze with a time of 9.91 seconds.
One year ago, Bolt staged a thrilling come-from-behind win against Gatlin at the Beijing world championships to capture his third world title in the 100.
“I was surprised”, Bolt said. Ray Ewry won 10 gold medals in his career but the International Olympic Committee does not recognize the medals won at the 1906 Olympics, where he won two.
Bolt’s American rival Gatlin picked up a silver medal, but not before he entered the stadium to a chorus of boos.
Bolt later said he was dismayed by the reception given to Gatlin.
Although a public security spokesman initially reported two people were taken into custody, police later said only a 25-year-old woman was facing charges of invading competition venues.
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Not for the first time, Bolt’s start in the final was hardly the best, but it did not matter as he gradually reeled in Gatlin before surging clear over the closing metres.
