Usain Bolt completed his ‘triple triple’ mission by anchoring Jamaica to gold in the men’s 4×100 metres relay on his final Olympic appearance.
The Jamaican made it a clean sweep of 100m, 200m and sprint relay golds from three successive Games to bring his gold medal haul to nine.
Bolt, who after his 200m victory on Thursday night kissed Rio’s Olympic Stadium track goodbye following his last individual race at a Games, brought the defending champions home in 37.27 seconds.
The world’s fastest man, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Sunday, signed off from his sport’s biggest stage in trademark fashion as he took the baton from Nickel Ashmeade and, knees high and arms pumping, stormed away from second-placed Japan to huge cheers.
Usain Bolt brings his #Olympics career to a fitting end in the 4x100m
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) August 20, 2016
2008: 🏅🏅🏅
2012: 🏅🏅🏅
2016: 🏅🏅🏅#TripleTriple pic.twitter.com/8b3VddsgtW
Bolt raised his baton to the heavens as he crossed the line before embracing his team-mates, also including Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake, before the quartet set off on a lap of honour, draped in Jamaican flags.
The world’s fastest man blew kisses to the stands. It was the end of an era.
This is not the Bolt of eight years ago, when he stormed to his 100m and 200m world records in Beijing, nor even of four years ago when he blitzed the field in London.
Age is catching up with him – the only thing that can it seems. He declared after his 200m success on Thursday night that his legs refused to go faster and he felt tired.
He remains, though, utterly dominant.
.#UsainBolt #Legend pic.twitter.com/ESWLnHqECl
— Mo Farah (@Mo_Farah) August 20, 2016
Great Britain’s women have won their first Olympic 4×100 metres medal in 32 years, breaking the national record en route to bronze.
Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita arrived at the Olympic Stadium as a strong medal shot, having last month become the country’s first quartet to go sub-42 seconds.
That 41.81secs run at the Anniversary Games was beaten in Rio de Janeiro as they secured a first medal since Los Angeles 1984 in 41.77s.
In Brazil they were 0.76s off gold medallists America, who made the most of their reprieve in Thursday’s heats to win in 41.01 from lane one ahead of Jamaica.
