USAIN BOLT HAS retained his 200m title to become the first man to achieve the sprint double at consecutive Olympics.
Bolt, who retained his 100m title on Saturday, crossed the line in 19.32sec to win in front of a delirious sell-out 80,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium.
The 25-year-old’s victory meant he bettered the record of US track legend Carl Lewis, who won three golds and a silver in the sprints at the 1984 and 1988 Games.
It was also the first time two individual track titles were successfully defended at successive Games since Finland’s Lasse Viren won the 5000m and 10,000m in the Munich and Montreal Games in 1972 and 1976.
Bolt led a Jamaican clean sweep of the podium, with training partner Yohan Blake taking silver in 19.44sec and Warren Weir claiming a shock bronze in 19.84sec.
Running in lane seven, Bolt was up on Weir outside him within five paces after an explosive start.
As he rounded the bend, Blake briefly threatened from lane four, but teeth clenched and at full tilt, Bolt had enough to slow down a full 10 metres from the line, raising his finger to his lips as he did so.
One of the all time greats. What a superstar.
He seems like a nice guy, he was taking pics with one of the journalists cameras, looks like a fun guy to he around…
Usain Bolt is a legend.
Hero
Big up.
Did I hear the RTE commentary team right? Bolt seemed to slow up before the end. I was half listening and it seemed as if they were saying he would get a big pay day for breaking the record at another competition rather than at the Olympics. Did I hear that right?
He gets a huge payout every time he breaks a world record but some events pay more than others as far as I know. Plus there’s only so many times he can go on breaking it.
He appears more capable than any sprinter I can recall of breaking records at will. Incredible athlete.
This guy is a real athlete. He is the best in the world. It’s a pity Ireland doesn’t have someone like him who we can genuinely get excited about.
*cough* Katie *cough* Taylor. ;)
Great stuff, Peter. And very original. Well done.
FYI Josh – this guy is a champion troll and has specifically been targeting anything to do with Katie. He actually got an award for it… it’s a copper penis with his face on it.
Interesting to see how he celebrates compared to the simple humility of Katie..
From what I read, all his rivals like him. He always has time for people as well. He’s just a fun guy loving life.
Katie did a lap of honour which in boxing terms was an unprecedented act of celebration. It’s own way it wasn’t overly dissimilar.
You can’t compare the two sportsmen. They’re both legends…just like Katie
I would rate bolts achievement higher than phelps now
and rudisha is more impressive than bolt
Don’t compare them, they’re running at different distances and running those distances better than anyone else has ever managed to. There’s praise enough to go round
Amazing. And it looks like he is not even giving his 100% during those runs (well, maybe it’s just how it looks – I could be wrong), like there is still bit of a margin that he could utilize, but keeps for another time.
But in fairness his physics are superior to any other sprinter there, competition has no chance unless he retires I think.
I’m in awe of this man.
There’s no denying that he is a legendary athlete and a fantastic person but it irritates me that he slows up before the end of every race to celebrate. He is the most gifted sprinter to walk this earth but there’s a little bit of that talent wasted everytime he eases off in the last 10/15 metres. If he was to push himself completely for the entire 100/200 metres he could be setting records that could last decades. To see him not post the mindblowing times he’s capable of rankles with me but either way we are honoured to witness such a magnificent athlete and performer.
I get your point, everyone enjoys seeing wr beaten but I think him easing up adds a bit to his appeal. It’s a trade mark at this stage. I’ve never seen anyone be so arrogant, so cocky, to showboat on the biggest stage….and still be as likeable as he is. I do agree though that it would be great if he could go flatout just once to see what exactly he is capable of
There is no doubt he is excellent but his attitude and arrogance took from the whole event last night. Rushida was also excellent in his race and his gracious gentle attitude afterwards made him the better man for me last night anyway