Usain Bolt was visibly disappointed after winning his historic eighth gold Olympic medal
USAIN Bolt and slowing down don’t really go in the same sentence. But after winning his eighth Olympic gold medal, Bolt admitted he was finally showing his age.
Athletics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Athletics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
USAIN Bolt and slowing down don’t really go in the same sentence.
But the fastest runner in history admitted after winning his eighth Olympic gold medal that he was finally showing his age which meant it was time to exit the sport.
Bolt was visibly disappointed as he crossed the line in the 200m final despite winning easily.
It was the time of 19.78 sec which angered him given he’d desperately wanted to challenge his world record of 19.19 sec at his final appearance on the Olympic stage.
To be fair conditions didn’t help him with a rain shower hitting the Olympic Stadium just 15 minutes before his race.
“The sadness for me would be that it is actually a slower time,” Bolt said.
“I really wanted to run faster but I came out here to win and that is the first thing. I am happy about that.
“I wasn’t happy with the time and my body did not respond down the straight.
“This is why I am getting older, I am slowing down so I need to get out of the sport.”
Bolt, who turns 30 on Sunday, has indicated he would continue for one last season and wave goodbye forever after next year’s world championships in London.
But he now thinks he’ll focus only on the 100m.
“I don’t know about the 200m in the future,” he said.
“Next year at the world championships it will likely just be the 100m, even though my coach keeps trying to convince me otherwise. But personally for me, I think this is the last time I will run the 200m.”.
His heir apparent has emerged at these Games with 21-year-old Canadian Andre de Grasse backing up his 100m bronze medal to get silver in the 200m, clocking 20.02 sec. France’s Christopher Lemaitre took bronze in 20.12 sec.
Bolt praised De Grasse who cheekily pushed him in the 200m semi-finals but revealed he wasn’t going to let anyone spoil his Olympic farewell.
“I can prove to the world over and over again that I am the greatest,” he said.
“That is all I can do. I keep telling these young ones, I will never let you guys beat me, never, it is not going to happen.”
During his lap of honour Bolt knelt down and kissed the track to celebrate his final individual race of his career on the world’s biggest stage.
“I just wanted to say goodbye,” he said about the gesture.
“There is nothing else I can really do. I have proven to the world that I’m the greatest and this is what I came here for.
“That’s why I said this is my last Olympics because I can’t prove anything else.”
He wants others to define his legacy although he’s happy to be compared with other legend of world sport such as Pele and Muhammad Ali.
Most importantly, Bolt wants to be remembered for showing what determination and hard work can achieve rather than drug cheating.
“I have just proven to the world that you can do it clean,” he said.
“With hard work and determination I have made the sport exciting and made people want to see the sport, I made people want to watch the sport.
“I have just put the sport on a different level, put it on a pedestal and I’m proud of that.”
Bolt has one last job in Rio, running the anchor leg for Jamaica in today’s 4x100m final and make it a clean sweep of gold medals from three consecutive Olympic Games.
Originally published as Usain Bolt was visibly disappointed after winning his historic eighth gold Olympic medal
‘Nearly lost my life’: Olympians’ shock reveal
Australian Olympic athletics star Morgan Mitchell has opened up on one of the darkest moments of her life.
Round and round … and round: Aussie hero chases insane record as ‘cooked’ new challenge begins
Two years after completing a 3953km journey from Perth to Sydney, Australian cult hero Nedd Brockmann is about to embark on his next utterly insane challenge.