LONDON, CMC – The prodigious Usain Bolt again elevated himself into a class of his own when he raced to gold in the men’s 200 metres final, to complete an unprecedented repeat Olympic sprint double here yesterday.
The 25-year-old, who first achieved the feat in Beijing four years ago, produced another spellbinding run to storm to a season-best 19.32 seconds and lead a Jamaica one-two-three, as training partners Yohan Blake and Warren Weir captured silver and bronze respectively.
Blake was timed at a season-best 19.44 seconds with Weir running a personal best 19.84.
Prior to Bolt, eight men had achieved the Olympic sprint double but none had successfully defended.
“My aim when I came out here was to become a legend. I am a legend now, a living legend without a doubt. I’ve shown the world that I am the best no matter what,” Bolt said afterward.
After successfully defended his 100 metres title last Sunday, the sprint sensation once again rewrote the history books with another exhilarating run.
He leapt from the blocks in lane six and blew by his rivals on the turn, entering the stretch with the lead but with Blake biting on his heels from lane three.
With 50 metres to run, the event had been reduced to a two-man affair but Bolt had enough momentum to reach the finish first, easing up at the line and audaciously putting his fingers to his lips to symbolically silence his detractors.
“I knew that Yohan was there in lane [three] and I knew he was going to be coming so I really had to push myself off the turn because I knew I am the better turn-runner so I knew I had to win the race off the turn,” Bolt recounted.
“When I came off the turn I could feel the strain on my back. I think maybe my back’s not as strong as I thought it was but I could feel the strain. Maybe I ran too fast or my technique [wasn’t right] but I could feel the strain.
“All I could think was ‘keep your form, don’t try to push yourself too much’ because I didn’t want anything to go wrong at the end so I just continued, held my stride and went through.”
Blake, who collected his second silver of the Games, was Bolt’s only challenger from the moment he entered the straightaway.
The new kid on the block Weir, in his first ever senior meet for Jamaica, lost ground in the closing stages, but not even the fast-finishing American Wallace Spearmon could close the gap.
The trio’s achievement was the first such for Jamaica as never before has the country won more than one medal in the event.
All three athletes also hail from the Racers Track Club, under the tutelage of revered coach Glen Mills.
“That’s awesome. Racers to the world,” Bolt said of the phenomenal achievement.
“These guys have worked hard. They’ve pushed themselves, they’ve pushed me, we’ve worked hard together throughout the season and worked so hard to be great.”
He added: “Thanks to Glen Mills, he’s really pushed us to be champions.”
Spearmon ran a season-best 19.90 to be fourth with the Netherlands’ Churandy Martina fifth in 20 seconds flat.
Bolt’s victory ensured that track powerhouses Jamaica took three of the four Olympic sprints at the London Games.
Reuters/Stefano Rellandini
