The Jamaican won the 100m final in 9.81 seconds on Sunday night (Rio time), beating home Justin Gatlin (9.89) and Andre De Grasse (9.91) for the gold.
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This is the third Summer Olympics at which Spencer has photographed Bolt.
And “slow” would qualify as the 9.81-second time he ran to win Sunday’s gold medal.
“It was brilliant. I didn’t go so fast but I’m so happy I won”, Bolt said after winning on Sunday. “This is my weakest event so it’s a relief to get it done”. I wasn’t pleased. I wasn’t happy about the fact that they changed the schedule.
“It was ridiculous as far as I was concerned because I felt so good in the semifinals”.
And Bolt says he’s feeling so good, he’s looking to lower his world record, which stands at 19.19 seconds. They’ve got more recovery time for the 200 semifinals, which are scheduled for 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.
“I’m exhausted”, Bolt admitted.
Bolt said he had been surprised at the crowd booing Gatlin. He briefly put his hands together, as if in thanks.
Chris Turner of the IAAF said the tight schedule has been used in the past – most notably, at the Atlanta Games in 1996, when Donovan Bailey won gold and set a world record.
‘I didn’t because I was exhausted going into the finals and I was just like ‘let me focus on what I need to focus on, ” he said.
“This is one of the biggest things”, said the world’s fastest man, whose confidence is flying after he all but jogged to 9.86s in the 100m semis. “The body sometimes checks out, but mentally you’ve got to push through”, he said. “We all want to come together like a brotherhood”.
Gatlin and De Grasse moved through to the semi-finals without any trouble, clocking 20.42 and 20.09 in their heats respectively. American LaShawn Merritt’s 19.74-second showing at the Olympic trials on July 8 was the fastest 200-meters run by anyone this year.
Before the final started, the other six runners that qualified for the final with Bolt and Gatlin were (finishing order), Canadian runner Andre De Grasse who took the bronze, Bolt’s fellow Jamaican training partner Yohan Blake, South African runner Akani Simbane, Ben Youssef Meite for Ivory Coast, French runner Jimmy Vicaut and USA runner Trayvon Bromell.
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“This is my preferred event to be honest”, said Blake, the 2012 silver medallist who missed most of the 2013 and 2014 seasons with a hamstring injury.
