Usain Bolt has secured an unprecedented Olympic “triple-triple” by winning his third gold medal at Rio and ninth overall, anchoring Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team to a historic victory on Saturday. Canada, who had Andre de Grasse in the last leg, took bronze four-hundredths of a second later – but only after the USA team were disqualified. The Americans dropped the baton in the preliminaries but proved that they were bumped on the handoff.
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Bolt, who also holds the world record in all three events, ran the final leg at the Olympic Stadium on Friday, bringing the Jamaicans home in 37.27 seconds ahead of Japan, who set an Asian record to take the silver in 37.60.
Bolt’s farewell was nearly upstaged by Japan, who held off the United States to claim a stunning silver in an Asian record of 37.60s. Nobody wanted to miss the men’s and women’s 400-meter relays, the fastest foursomes in the world competing in a nervewracking 40-second race that can come unglued with one bad baton handoff.
Nine Olympic races. Nine gold medals.
With most of the other debates over about greatest this, greatest that, a new one might be whether Bolt has surpassed Marley as the most famous person from the country known for sea, sun and sprints.
Bolt spoke to reporters after his 200-meter win about the prospect of being put on the same sporting pedestal as soccer’s Pelé, swimming’s Michael Phelps or boxing’s Muhammed Ali. But Bolt with nine gold medals is tied for the second place with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, Finish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi, a fellow United States sprinter Michael Lewis and American swimmer Mark Spitz. “Pressure!” as Bolt, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade burst into laughter.
By contrast, Great Britain’s 4x100m women’s relay team of Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita took the bronze medal.
The victory saw Bolt become the first man to win three Olympic gold medals in the 200m and also the oldest to do so at age 29. The Kenyan team is next with 10 medals overall including five gold, and Jamaica has six gold among nine medals overall. In between his Olympic titles, he won every world championship 100 and 200, except for when he false-started the 100 at the 2011 worlds. “For me, I got that phrase from an interview one time and it feels so good to use because I’ve done so much at the Olympics over the years”. “I’m sad but I’m happy too”, he said. “This Olympics has made me hungry for the World Championships next year”, he said. This is my last one. The decision to leave out anchor leg runner CJ Ujah was both controversial and unexplained.
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Adam Gemili, fourth in the individual 200m on Thursday night, took his slot and appeared to be a part of a sloppy final changeover.
