Photo: The indomitable Usain Bolt wrote his name into the history books on Thursday night when he became the first man to win three gold medals back to back in the 200m at the Olympic Games. (Getty Images)
Usain Bolt headed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to participate in what he has said is his fourth and final Olympic Games with one thing on his agenda, win three gold medals and immortalize himself in the annals of track and field history.
Having won the 100m gold on Sunday night, Bolt lined up for the second of his gold medal quests, the 200m at 8:30pm, inside the packed Olympic Stadium in Rio, not so much to compete against the seven other men in the race, but more so against the clock. The living legend had made it clear while speaking with reporters, days before the race that he would be attempting to break his own amazing world record of 19.19 seconds, set at the Berlin World Championships in 2009.
Drawn ideally in lane 6, Bolt had a short curve and a long stretch to run in order to chase 19.19. With LaShawn Merritt and Andre De Grasse drawn on his inside and Christophe Lemaitre just outside, there was enough motivation for Bolt to go after it, and go for it he did. The sound of the gun saw the 29 year old attack the curve like never seen before, both Lemaitre in lane seven and Churandy Martina in lane eight were covered in his first 10 strides.
Bolt led the field by more than five meters after coming off the turn and pressed hard for the line in the home stretch, leading the chasing pack was the young Canadian, De Grasse, while the rest of the field made almost a straight line in hunt for the bronze medal.
The 1.95m Bolt lurched for the line, straining every muscle, but it was clear from 50 metres out that he would not be breaking the record. In the end, the great man had to settle for a season best 19.78s and his third consecutive gold medal in the 200m at the Olympic Games.
Andre De Grasse claimed for himself his first Olympic silver medal in 20.02, while Lemaitre who ran 20.12 to edge out Adam Gemili of Great Britain – who was credited with the same time, celebrated wildly, his bronze medal, as American LaShawn Merritt finished way outside the medal places, in 6th place.
Bolt will have a mere twenty four hours to recover before he attempts to finish his business in Brazil in the Men’s 4x100m final. Jamaica and the USA will face off in the race that closes the show on the penultimate day of track and field inside the Olympic Stadium on Friday night.
It may quite possibly be, the last time the world gets to see the greatest of all time perform at the Olympic Games.
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