Not so fast, Usain Bolt.
Advertisement
Klay Thompson ended an Olympic-long slump with seven 3-pointers and 30 points, and the US needed nearly all of them to hold off France 100-97 in basketball.
He did, however, make one pre-competition appearance, during which he showed his natural talent for entertaining, dancing samba with a troupe of Carnival dancers.
The Olympics need you badly. The sport of track needs you desperately.
Lilly King of US celebrates winning the gold medal while Yulia Efimova of Russian Federation looks on in the women’s 100m breaststroke final on day 3 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Center on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Asked for his thoughts on Gatlin’s reception, gold medal-winner Bolt said: “I was surprised”. Then he preened some more, much to the delight of those who came to watch history.
Inside the stadium, scores more journalists awaited a midnight news conference, where Bolt said victory in the 200m on Thursday would upgrade his status from “legend” to “immortal”.
He was in cruise control in his heat on Saturday, upped the ante considerably by no more than cantering to a season’s best 9.86 in the semi-finals, even managing a grin as he glanced right and left, and looked set to go seriously quick in the final.
Born in Trelawny parish near Montego Bay – where a host of sprinters including the shamed Ben Johnson also come from – Bolt was something special from the start, according to Jennifer Bolt.
His win in the 100 meters gave Jamaica two golds in Rio and three medals total.
Synchronized swimmers were greeted Sunday by clear blue water in the pool after officials worked through the night to replace the murky green water that prompted competitors to dub it “The Swamp”.
Bolt unlaced his now-famous gold spikes and took selfies with the fans.
He’s the undisputed star of a sport that doesn’t produce stars anymore, a runner so popular in his native Jamaica that he is often compared to the iconic reggae master Bob Marley.
Bolt’s win – his 18th gold in Olympic and World Championships since 2008 – averted what might have been a public relations disaster for the drug-tarnished world of track and field.
Bolt must now be accepted as the greatest ever Olympic sprinter, indeed the greatest sprinter ever. That’s what I’m here to prove again and again.
“I just want to say congrats”.
After winning his semi-final, when he had also been booed, Gatlin let his momentum carry him straight through the tunnel leading to the athletes’ private area under the grandstand. His biggest rival is considered to be American 2004 victor Justin Gatlin who advanced in 9.94. By the time he hit the finish line Bolt was pointing to his chest, where the only thing missing on his uniform was a Superman cape. He turned his yellow hat backward, kneeled down and gave the crowd what it really wanted.
And over the loudspeakers, Marley’s “Jammin” echoed through the stadium.
USA swimmer Ryan Lochte and three teammates were robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro overnight Saturday. Shortly after he arrived in Rio, he conceded that, yes, he wished he’d had more chances to run in real races, but that everything would be OK.
Advertisement
Usain Bolt stayed the Fastest Man in the World, doping bickering continued and tennis star Andy Murray made history.
