Usain Bolt’s quest for Olympic immortality is complete, claiming an unprecedented triple-triple after anchoring Jamaica to gold in the 4x100m in Rio. He can add another medal in the 4×100 relay final on Friday. The U.S. team of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Trayvon Bromell that took third in 37.62 seconds was later disqualified for what’s believed to be a lane violation on their first baton exchange.
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The women’s team was smooth, despite the rocky path to the final.
This is not the first time that the United States relay team has struggled with baton passing. One by one, they spoke from the other side of a waist-high metal barrier, close enough to touch, and the inevitability of Usain Bolt hit home.
It didn’t bother them. “We want eight from eight”, said GB captain Helen Richardson-Walsh, whose wife Kate is also on the team.
“I wasn’t happy with the time when I crossed the line but I’m excited I got the gold medal – that’s the key thing”, he told BBC Sport.
Before Bolt announced his arrival at the global stage with stunning wins at the 2008 Beijing Games, Johnson’s 1996 record was considered as one of the greatest feats in athletics.
Usain Bolt is not only making history on the Olympic track.
It was not all perfection for the Americans though.
Looking ahead to Friday, American pole vaulter Jenn Suhr will attempt to defend her Olympic title.
The women’s 100-metre final at Barcelona 1992 is often cited as the narrowest finish in Olympic track, with six-hundredths of a second separating first place from fifth (and one-hundredth between third and fourth). LaShawn Merritt of the USA, the bronze medalist in the 400, finished sixth in 20.19 seconds.
Kenya took gold and silver in the women’s 5,000 meters, keeping up the country’s powerful showing in the distance races. It all depends on the team now. “I hope to be in that bracket after these Games”, the 29-year old concluded.
“I glanced. I mean, I realize we’re leading the medal count”.
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“No, I can’t grasp what I’ve achieved, definitely not”, said Bolt. He’s too powerful to lose, too confident and, in his final Olympics, too motivated. There was an upset as Vivian Cheruiyot powered past slumping favorite Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia and set an Olympic record of 14 minutes, 26.17 seconds. The silver went to his compatriot and world champion Joe Kovacs at 21.78m. The gap between the runners in the photo was barely perceptible – recorded at just three-thousandths of a second.
