He is the Olympic champion once again.
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When van Newkirk won world’s, he and two fellow sprinters ran sub-44 seconds, which was a first.
That’s why U.S. audiences got to see their stars of the pool – Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky – swim their finals in prime time.
De Grasse took bronze in a personal best of 9.91, ahead of Bolt’s Jamaican team-mate Yohan Blake. The Jamaican isn’t finished yet in Rio as he is chasing gold in the 200m and 4x100m relay to complete a “triple triple”.
Now it seems only a cruel slice of misfortune can prevent him from ascending even higher into the pantheon of Olympic greats at the Rio Games this week.
History was also made in a men’s 400-meter final that featured the 2008 Olympic champ, LaShawn Merritt of the USA, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kirani James of Grenada, and 2015 World Champion at the Beijing championships Wayde van Newkirk, a young South African.
A showman to the core, Usain Bolt announced his pending retirement on the eve of the 2016 Summer Games surrounded by scantily clad samba dancers. “I came to prove I’m one of the greats”, Bolt said, according to India Today.
The current star? That guy named Bolt.
The 6-foot-5 sprinter/celebrity overcame his typically slow unfurling from the blocks – he was second-to-last after the break – then churned his legs to gradually build up speed.
Also breaking 10 seconds were fifth-place finisher Akani Simbine of South Africa (9.94) and Ben Youseff Meite of Cote D’Ivoire who raced sixth in 9.96. He told THR that he was supposed to be getting field events, but he decided at the last second to try to get a slow-motion shot of Bolt.
After removing his gold spikes, Bolt celebrated by taking selfies with fans and flashing his signature pose for photographers.
It was no surprise to see Gatlin, the fastest man in the semi-finals, get his usual explosive start but Bolt took longer than usual to reel him in. But he is expected to be pushed hard by compatriot Will Claye, who was runner-up four years ago. Nobody did this time. “It is the first time I have come into a stadium and they booed someone”.
Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? It was appropriately turned into a meme, arguably the best one of the Olympics.
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Also through are Lashawn Merritt and Ameer Webb of the United States of America and Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade of Jamaica, while all three of Great Britian’s sprinters advanced: Adam Gemili, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, and Daniel Talbot.
