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Golden Bolt

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jamaica's Usain Bolt led America's Ryan Bailey to the finish line in the 4x100-meter relay on Saturday.

LONDON » Be it a gold medal or a souvenir from a record relay run, Usain Bolt always gets what he wants at the Olympics.

The Jamaican will leave London a perfect 3-for-3 — three events, three victories — just the way he departed Beijing four years ago.

Almost even with the last U.S. runner when he got the baton for the anchor leg of the 4×100 meters, Bolt steadily pulled away down the stretch, gritting his teeth and leaning at the line to cap his perfect Summer Games by leading Jamaica to victory in a world-record 36.84 seconds Saturday night.

"A wonderful end to a wonderful week," Bolt said. "What else do I need to do to prove myself as a legend?"

BRITAIN’S FARAH FINISHES DISTANCE DOUBLE

LONDON » Mo Farah won the 5,000 meters to complete an Olympic distance double for Britain on Saturday night.

Backed by a boistrous, capacity crowd at 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, Farah surged ahead late and held on to win in 13 minutes, 41.66 seconds. He still had the energy to do a few playful situps on the track before he grabbed a flag for the real celebrations.

The Somali-born Farah won the 10,000 meters on Britain’s "Super Saturday" last weekend, the same night Jess Ennis won the heptathlon and Greg Rutherford the long jump.

Associated Press

 

After crossing the line, he pleaded with an official to let him keep the yellow baton he was clutching. Told he’d be disqualified if he didn’t hand it over, Bolt complied, and some nearby spectators booed. About 40 minutes later, that same official approached Bolt and returned the stick. Bolt responded with a bow of thanks and a chuckle, kissed the baton — and then asked his teammates to autograph it.

One more possession to help him remember his performances at 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, where any mention of Bolt’s name drew raucous cheers, countless camera flashes and chants of "Usain!" or "We want Bolt!"

He reiterated that this could be it for him on track and field’s biggest stage. Bolt turns 26 on Aug. 21, and refuses to commit to showing up at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"It’s going to be hard to really do that. I’ve done all I want to do," said Bolt, noting that he planned to go out on the town Saturday night. "I’ve got no more goals."

Bolt added the relay gold to the ones he earned in the 100 in 9.63 seconds last Sunday — the second-fastest time in history — and the 200 in 19.32 on Thursday. The runner-up in both individual sprints, Bolt’s pal and training partner Yohan Blake, ran the third leg of the relay, following Nesta Carter and Michael Frater.

The U.S. quartet of Trell Kimmons, 100 bronze medalist Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey got the silver in 37.04, equaling the old world record that Bolt helped set at last year’s world championships. Trinidad & Tobago took the bronze in 38.12. Canada, which was third across the line, was disqualified for running outside its lane, and its appeal was rejected.

As Blake and Gay rounded the race’s final curve, they were pretty much in sync, stride for stride.

But when that duo was done, the relay came down to Bolt vs. Bailey, who was fifth in the 100 meters in 9.88.

Really not a fair matchup.

"It was over from there," Blake said.

Sure was.

After transferring the baton from his left hand to his right, the 6-foot-5 Bolt churned up the track with his long-as-can-be strides, and Bailey had no chance to keep up.

"Wow," Bailey said. "He’s a monster."

Bolt kept adding to his lead and actually spared his now-customary showboating at the finish, instead driving through the line on a windy, chilly night (with the temperature hovering around 60 degrees, he was wearing black gloves and a black wool cap before the race).

"He was basically the difference in the race. It was even all the way around," Gay said. "When he got the stick, there was nothing we could do about it."

After seeing the record time, Bolt began to celebrate, something he relishes as much as running, it seems.

He mugged for the cameras with Blake, each doing a signature pose. Bolt did his "To the World" move, where he leans back and points to the sky. Blake curled his hands as if they were claws while making a scary face to match the nickname Bolt gave him, "The Beast."

"We are not human. … We drop from space," joked Blake.

 

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