Olympics: Mission Accomplished As Bolt Seals 'triple-triple'

Muhammad Rameez Published August 20, 2016 | 04:17 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Augst,2016) - Usain Bolt brought the curtain down on his Olympic career with a record-equalling ninth gold medal, anchoring Jamaica to relay glory in a perfectly scripted 'triple-triple' finale. The 29-year-old superstar, widely seen as the greatest sprinter in history, stormed over the line in 37.27sec to trigger an eruption of adulation in the Olympic Stadium. 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 -- the so-called 'triple-triple' 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 nine Olympic gold medals, a record for a track and field athlete.

"I'm going to stay up late and have fun," said Bolt, who lingered on the track after his lap of honour, kneeling down to kiss the finish line amid chants of "Usain Bolt, Usain Bolt" echoed from the stands. "I would never have thought I could do back-to-back-to-back Olympics.

I never thought that. The first one I was just happy, the second one was a challenge and to come into the third one is just unbelievable. I hope I've set the bar high enough that no one can do it again." The relay gold was the final act of an incredible Olympic career that redefined athletics and has left commentators scrambling to find a new superlatives as each milestone came and went.