Usain Bolt seals 'Triple Triple': as Jamaica win 100m relay gold
Usain Bolt brought the curtain down on his Olympic career with a
record-equalling ninth gold medal on Friday, anchoring Jamaica to men's
100m relay glory at the 2016 Rio Olympics in a perfectly-scripted finale
to complete his unprecedented "triple triple".
Japan's quartet took a surprise silver in 37.60sec while Canada took
bronze after the United States, who crossed in third, were later
disqualified. The victory saw Bolt complete a third consecutive clean
sweep of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles following his six gold medals
in the 2008 and 2012 Games.
It leaves Bolt who will retire in 2017 - level with Carl Lewis and
Paavo Nurmi on a total of nine Olympic gold medals, a record for a track
and field athlete. The relay gold was the final act of an incredible
Olympic career that redefined athletics and often left commentators
scrambling to find a new vocabulary of superlatives as each new
milestone came and went.
On Sunday, Bolt became the first man in history to win a hat-trick of
100m gold medals.
He then followed that up with Thursday's barnstorming win in the
200m, sealing another never-before-seen treble. Friday's triumph was
potentially the most awkward, with Bolt's gold medal hopes reliant on
the performances of his team-mates.
But Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade were in no mood to
fluff their lines. A superb third leg by Ashmeade ensured that Bolt had
a precious lead after the final changeover.
From that point there was only ever going to be one outcome and Bolt
powered home by three metres to universal delight.
Bolt will now set off a year-long lap of honour that will culminate
with the World Championships in London next August.
The Jamaican is preparing to exit with athletics fighting to restore
credibility after a year dominated by doping and corruption scandals.
International Association of Athletics Federations president
Sebastian Coe is adamant however that athletics will endure despite the
loss of its most charismatic leading man.
In an interview with AFP on Friday, Coe said Bolt had transcended his
sport in a way that was comparable to boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
"The man is a genius," Coe said. "There's been nobody since Muhammad
Ali who's got remotely near to what this guy has done in terms of
grabbing the public imagination."
However, Coe argued that just as a new generation of boxers emerged
after Ali's retirement, so track and field would unearth new
personalities after Bolt.
"It's a massive gap, but it's not a gap that is insuperable," Coe
said.
"You're not going to fill that gap overnight, but there are great,
talented athletes out there."
- NDTV
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