The legendary athlete silenced all doubts over his form with a brisk 9.86 seconds to win the second semi-final in the event. Normally we have to do two rounds in one day.
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Indeed he did. But he did more than win yet another gold medal he confirmed his immortality in the sport.
Still, this was Bolt – as big a star as there is at these Olympics – so the silence made sense. Only one other sprinter in his heat, Norway’s Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, had ever broken 20 seconds and he finished tied for last.
It was a bittersweet night for Gatlin – he won a silver medal – yet the race had been built up as a great chance for him to beat Bolt in an Olympic final.
That was only part of the story of this race.
“I didn’t really focus on the boos because when I looked at the stands I saw so many American flags”, said Gatlin.
Brazilian hopes of an Olympic pole vault double came to an abrupt end when home medal hope Fabiana Murer bombed out of the women’s qualifying competition after failing to register a mark.
“I’ve recovered but I’m a bit exhausted”, he said. “I didn’t expect that”.
“There’s a lot of Usain Bolt fans, a lot of Jamaican fans, but they don’t know me, they don’t know Justin”. Gatlin of the USA also went through to the final with a time of 9.94 seconds in the third semi-final while fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake also went through with 10.1. “I knew I got a bad start (in the final) and all I could tell myself was, “listen don’t panic, take your time, work yourself back”, and that was what I did”, Bolt shared.
‘We all have respect for each other, ‘ the American sprinter said of his fellow competitors.
It was neither easy nor pretty but Bolt got the job done, eating up the ground on Gatlin after a slow start to come through and cross the line in a time of 9.81 seconds. Andre de Grasse of Canada won the bronze in 9.91 seconds.
That equates to five Olympic golds and seven in the world championships.
But he said afterwards: “I didn’t really run that hard”.
” It’s my favourite event so I get nervous”. For him the head-to-head rivalry that engrossed the rest of the world was a side issue.
But today he roused the early supporters at the Olympic Stadium as he remained on course for his historic “triple triple” by coasting through the 200m first round in 20.28.
“The coach said “just go out there run the turn and make sure you get the lead going into the straight and keep on to it”.
For many he is already that. But it was still his third-fastest time at the Olympic Games.
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“For me, De Grasse has shown he is ready”, Bolt said. “It wasn’t about the time, it was just about winning the gold and going out on top”, he said on the BBC.
