With Jamaica winning the men’s 4x100m relay gold, Bolt’s ninth Olympic gold, the sprinter bid farewell to the Olympic Games, declaring himself the “greatest”.
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Racing in the final Olympic race of his decorated career, Bolt ran the anchor leg to lead Jamaica to the 4x100m gold medal Friday night in Rio.
The Jamaican’s nine gold medals in athletics pulled him level with Paavo Nurmi of Finland and American Carl Lewis.
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.
Usain Bolt celebrates after crossing the finish line to win an unprecedented third straight Olympic sprint double, with victory in the 200 metres.
Ryoto Yamagata had run a blistering opening leg for Japan, who won a stunning silver for their first Olympic medal in the sprint relay in 37.60s, improving the Asian record they set in qualifying. Canada defeated the hosts Brazil to win the bronze medal.
And on Thursday he clinched the 200m title by finishing ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse. I have accomplished what I wanted to accomplish in track and field.
I am just just happy, proud of myself.
Asked in Rio whether this would be his final Games, he replied: “I want to say so”.
“I’m going to stay up late and have fun”, Bolt told the BBC. “I’m sad but I’m happy too”, he explained. The Americans defeated Spain in their semi-final, 82-76.
American Tyson Gay, who made his Olympic debut in 2008 as Bolt began his astonishing medal sweep, described the Jamaican’s greatness as “just self-explanatory”.
Bolt has a strong claim as the one of the greatest athletes in history, and at 6-foot-5 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s good at more than just running fast.
Track and field will be a much dimmer place without the “Lightning Bolt”, but in a sport dogged by doping sprinters the fact that the brilliant Usain Bolt shone a light at all might just be legacy enough.
“There was some pressure to make it to the finals”, Powell said, relieved he didn’t have to deliver any bad news as Bolt prepared for the 200 final. He turned a close 4×100 relay race against Japan and the United States into a never-a-doubt runaway, helping Jamaica cross the line in 37.27.
He intends to retire after the 2017 World Championships in London and will not compete at Tokyo 2020, at which point he will be almost 34.
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Greece’s Ekaterini Stefanidi claimed gold in the women’s pole vault, defeating Sandi Morris of the US, while Slovakia took their first ever Olympic track and field gold when Matej Toth charged home to win the 50km race walk.
