Usain Bolt declared that this would be his last Olympics, but his performance in Rio has put that promise in serious doubt. He’s a great athlete and he’s probably going to go down as one of the greatest athletes of all time. The Americans are going for their sixth straight gold medal, playing a Spain team they routed by 40 in the preliminary round.
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Ahead of Bolt is another year of competition leading up to the World Championships in London, followed by retirement. And he is leaving the sport in the grandest possible way – three gold each in three consecutive Olympics.
But his crowning moment was still to come, as he anchored the Jamaican quartet in the 4x100m relay. Cameras zoomed on him and smartphones captured all his moves.
A superb third leg by Ashmeade ensured that Bolt had a precious lead after the final changeover.
“We were still a bit nervous to see if it had gone through, but when we woke up this morning and found out it was rejected and we got the bronze, we were all pretty excited and happy”. We would have surpassed, in terms of gold medals what we did at the 2012 Games, and that was our primary objective.
“It’s a relief but I’m also sad that I have to leave”. Even without saying so, he is the greatest.
Spain’s Carolina Marin celebrates after defeating India’s V. Sindhu Pusarla in the women’s badminton singles gold medal match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 19, 2016. “I told the guys, “if you don’t win gold I will beat you”, he said in jest.
Dedication is what he believed earned him this greatness.
“It’s not what I want, but it’s life”. “I never knew this would happen when I started out”. “So it gives me hope to show the world that the impossible is possible”.
Bolt’s popularity was vividly illustrated this week at Rio’s Olympic Stadium. You work so hard with your team mates, guys you compete against nearly all year long. This marked the ninth time since 1995 the US men have been disqualified or failed to get the baton around at Olympics or world championships. “I have done as much as I possibly can for my country, and will continue to do so after I retire from the sport”, he said. With a tinge of emotion, Bolt confessed he would miss the crowd and the atmosphere.
“I love competing. So I’m going to miss all of that”.
“I just have mixed feelings now”, he told reporters.
The living legend confessed that after this achievement, it would be hard to comprehend life after sport.
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On what is next in his bucket list: I will have to make a new bucket list. “There you go, I’m the greatest”, said Bolt.Some call him Immortal, some Incredible but the fact remains as an audience, it was an honour to witness the great Jamaican sprinting and breaking records.A unusual fact states that if Bolt kept running at his fastest speed from Earth all the way through space to the moon, he would get there in 9,713 hours.
