Then he was off, and anyone could have predicted the rest.
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Usain Bolt won his second gold medal of the Rio Olympics, brushing aside all-comers again in his favourite 200m sprint but blamed his “ageing” body for missing his own world record.
“You sometimes forget people are back in your area and getting inspired and I would hope to inspire a lot of people and hopefully change their lives as well”, he said.
While Bolt plans to run the 100m and 4x100m relay at next year’s World Championship in London, he admitted that Rio will likely be the last time he competes in the 200m.
Bolt’s victory came just four days after he also achieved a hat-trick of Olympic gold medals in the 100m.
It’s the penultimate night of track and field in Rio, and Usain Bolt is making his final appearance. Turkey’s Cuban-born Yasmani Copello claimed bronze.
In a way, he was racing against himself.
He holds the world record for the 100 meters (9.58 seconds in 2009) and 200 metres (19.19 in 2009).
“I knew it was going to be hard to break the record because when I came off the corner my legs decided, “now listen, we’re not going to go any faster”.
“So I wasn’t fully happy but I’m happy that I got the gold medal”.
Regardless, no one will question his stature in history. Earlier this week, Bolt, 29, hurtled past his competitors to win the 100 meters with apparent ease.
If he manages it, it will be the third time in a row that he’s got all three gold titles at the Olympics – that’s why it’s called the “treble treble”.
Still, there were those who were amazed by Bolt’s performance. Bolt will turn 30 on Sunday. He was puffing out his cheeks down the final stretch. Even without turning his head, he knew that his closest rival, Canadian Andre De Grasse, was still a few feet behind him.
When it was over, he dropped to his knees and raised his arms toward the stands. As the other competitors shuffled off the track, Bolt took a solitary walk around the stadium, a flag slung around his shoulders, as Bob Marley songs played over the speakers.
The Jamaican, who said in February he would retire after the 2017 World Championships, has won all eight Olympic finals in which he has appeared.
After the race, Bolt said he proved that an athlete could be great while competing clean, without drugs.
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“Thanks to De Grasse my legs were exhausted”.
