Bolt finished his 100-meter dash in Rio in just 9.80 seconds, becoming the first man in history to win gold in the 100-meter in three consecutive Olympics. The reigning World Champion clocked 20.29 seconds to finish the race ahead of Nigerian Ejowvokoghene Oduduru and Dutch sprinter Solomon Bockarie.
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Usain Bolt’s 9.81 seconds was his slowest winning time in a major championship in eight years and he was not pleased with the organisers, after they reduced the time between the semi-finals and the final.
With the win in 100m, the 29-year-old speedster had also bagged a hattrick in the event, an unprecedented feat. This is also the first step towards Bolt’s target of repeating his 100m, 200m and 4x100m victories at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games.
“Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it”.
“It’s the first time I’ve had to jog to the warmup area to get ready for the final”, Bolt said. He delivered an impressive 9.91 second personal-best time.
The South African sprinter Wayde Van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record on Sunday night in Rio de Janeiro, leaving two of the greatest one-lap runners of this era in his dust.
The Jamaican added: “I’m excited about what’s about to happen for the rest of the Olympics”.
The Jamaican was some way behind second place finisher, Justin Gatlin (USA), 9.89 but eventually took over the race, with Canadian Andre de Grasse taking the bronze in 9.91. All those looks to his right weren’t so much taunting – no sign of that smile seen around the world in his 100-meter semifinal – but more a way of ensuring he doesn’t waste a lick of energy.
Sharpe’s biggest concern was De Grasse getting a good start to the race, since he’s not known for being fast off the blocks.
“It’s just an incredible feeling”, said Whitlock, who had already got an all-around bronze medal on Wednesday.
“I really expected to go faster, but the turnaround time was really bad for any athlete”. “I don’t know why they changed the time, but if we got more time, the race would definitely have been faster”.
“I’m really proud of him”.
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“I’d like to stay in the sport to continue inspiring youngsters”, he said.
