Winning the 200-meter would take Bolt one step closer to a “triple-triple” – three consecutive gold medals in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4×100 relay (and yes, Bolt, along with his teammates at the 2012 games, set that record, too).
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Bolt admitted his performance in the final was far from flawless and blamed a timetable he branded “ridiculous” and “stupid” for his failure to go quicker, with the short-turnaround after the semi-final leaving little time to recover and go again.
Six sprinters ran under 10 seconds, tying the record number from the 1991 World Championship and the 2008 Olympics.
That equates to five Olympic golds and seven in the world championships.
“I expected to go faster, but I’m happy that I won, ” Bolt said.
When Usain Bolt crosses the finish line and starts pounding his chest, it resonates with the public around the world. I can understand that people want to see a rivalry between me and Usain.
During Bolt’s rise in the sport, Gatlin has often found himself cast as a villain of sorts by some fans and foreign press.
“I feel pretty proud of myself”. “Stay tuned, two more to go”.
“I’m speechless”, he said.
“This is one of the biggest things”, said the world’s fastest man, whose confidence is flying after he all but jogged to 9.86s in the 100m semis. The 34-year-old American won the 100m gold medal at the Athens 2004 Games but later served a four-year ban for doping.
“I came here to achieve three gold medals”. Should Bolt advance he will then have a day off before the 200-meters final takes place Thursday at 9:30 p.m. ET. “I’m also the greatest athlete to live”.
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And the sport’s greatest showman produced an even better run when it really mattered to send the Olympic Stadium into raptures. “It was ridiculous as far as I am concerned, because I felt so good in the semi-finals”, said Bolt, as he shook his head from side to side, apparently in disappointment. Those who knew what to look for before the race could tell it was in the bag. “I was like ‘Yo, I probably could run a fast time, ‘” he said.
