Usain Bolt made history Sunday by becoming the first man to win the 100-meter dash in three consecutive Olympics.
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If he advances from those semis, he would race in the final on Thursday night for his eighth Olympic gold medal. The 2004 Olympic champion in Athens, Gatlin fell short of his quest to reclaim the title as “world’s fastest man”, losing to Jamaica’s Usain Bolt by just.08 seconds.
If history is any guide, Bolt should run the 200-meter race in roughly 19.62 seconds, nearly a half-second faster than Gatlin’s bronze-winning mark at the 2004 Athens Games, the last time Gatlin competed in this event at the Olympics.
The Jamaican superstar is yet to compete in the Men’s 200m race and 4x100m relay race at the Rio Olympics 2016.
And that was why the swimming finals in Beijing in 2008 were held in the morning, not the night. “I’m here to do a job, and that’s what I’m going to do”.
That’s why United States audiences got to see their stars of the pool – Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky – swim their finals in prime time.
The Bronze medallist from the 100m, Andre de Grasse, also came through easily.
“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 really expected to go faster, but the turnaround time was really bad for any athlete”. “It was ridiculous as far as I am concerned, because I felt so good in the semifinals”.
“Somebody said I can become immortal”.
Even Surin tweeted “I’d like to see Andre run 9.81 or under tonight”.
No one has ever been as fast as new 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk after the South African shattered Michael Johnson’s old 400m mark of 43.17, which was never really tested since it was added to the books 17 years ago, clocking 43.03 on his way to an impressive gold medal.
Days away from turning 30, it was reasonable to expect Bolt to finally slow down, but his 100-meter time shows he is one of the greatest athletes of all time. Jamaica’s Yohan Blake finished fourth with 9.93 seconds. “That’s my focus. If by any chance I fail, of course I’m going to be sad”.
Dibaba smashed the world record at the 2015 world championships but a toe injury is threatening to upset the Ethiopian’s bid for the Olympic title.
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“There’s a lot of Usain Bolt fans, a lot of Jamaican fans, but they don’t know me, they don’t know Justin. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s semi-finals”. “Stay tuned, two more to go”. “So for me, it’s good on all fronts”.
