Usain Bolt bolt claims ninth career gold medal as Jamaica wins 4x100 relay
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RIO DE JANEIRO — And so it was nine. That’s right, nine. Nine golds for Usain Bolt to show for an Olympic career beyond compare, in a sport where just one is a laudable lifetime achievement.
Bolt, the Jamaican sprint icon, anchored his nation to 4x100 meter relay glory on Friday night to cap off his Olympic legacy with yet another triumph.
We will never see him at the Games again, he says, and we may never see another like him. Golds in three events in three straight Olympics wrote the perfect story for an athlete as beloved as he is talented.
He might be the world’s best turn runner but how fitting it as that he ran the final straight, the magnificent surge down to the line, to stop the clock in 37.27.
The United States team, having deliberately avoided trash talk, strode purposefully onto the track instead of opting for the kind of humorous staged routine preferred by others, but couldn’t get going and Jamaica was too good again, just like in Beijing and London. The Americans were disqualified after they crossed the line third, behind surprise silver medalist Japan. A few minutes after the race, Canada was upgraded to bronze.
Asafa Powell, the former world record holder but restricted to relay duty this time, kicked things off strongly, against American lead-off Mike Rodgers. Yohan Blake, fourth in the individual 100 and the silver medalist from 2012, matched up with Justin Gatlin and kept things even.
The third leg was key. Nickel Ashmeade had a disappointing Olympics under his own steam, but was pivotal here. A weak link? Certainly not. Ashmeade rounded the top turn effortlessly and Tyson Gay, on his inside for the Americans, was unable to prevent him opening a small gap.
And then it was done. No way was the great man going to let it slip, not in his final race, not with destiny beckoning at the tips of those golden feet. You would have liked his chances of running down Trayvon Bromell with a five-meter deficit. A slight advantage? Forget about it.
Bolt surged down the track like he has done so many times before, powering his way into Olympic history — and further into greatness.
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