MOSCOW – Usain Bolt is perfect again.
And with three gold medals in Moscow, the Jamaican great became the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the World Championships.
The 4×100-metre relay gold in Sunday’s final event erased the memories of the 100 title he missed out on in South Korea two years ago because of a false start. And, combined with an identical 100-200-relay triple from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Bolt was instrumental in giving Jamaica the first sweep of the six sprint events.
Bolt was still trailing Justin Gatlin when he got the baton on the anchor leg, but a botched American handover and his superior speed were enough to carry him, and Jamaica, to victory.
He gritted his teeth, dipped at the line, and then grinned with relief.
“I wasn’t really worried about Justin. I knew if he got the baton in front of me, I could catch him,” Bolt said. “So it was just going out there to run as fast as possible.”
And when he does, nobody has stopped him when it mattered – in a half decade, and counting.
“It’s not just about the talent. It’s about rising to the occasion. He understands what that means,” Gatlin said.
Bolt had already won the 100 and 200 metres. It was his second such sprint triple at the World Championships, matching the two he has achieved at the Olympics.
With his victory, Bolt moved to the top of the all-time World Championships medals table with eight gold and two silver, edging Carl Lewis, who has eight gold, one silver and one bronze and Michael Johnson (eight gold).
“It is just great,” Bolt said of the comparison. “I’ll continue dominating. I’ll continue to work hard. For me, my aim is to continue hard into the greatness thing.”
And again Luzhniki Stadium and its 40 000 fans turned into a Bolt party.
With palpable relief after a week of an all-business demeanour during his earlier races, Bolt finally let go. His arms across his chest, he kicked his legs as he went down lower and lower to imitate a traditional eastern European dance to the delight of the crowd.
“I’m not even sure which country it’s from. It just went along with the music, so I did it,” Bolt said.
Twenty minutes earlier, Fraser-Pryce became the first woman in World Championship history to sweep the sprint events, anchoring Jamaica to gold in the 4×100-metre relay.
Unlike Bolt, Fraser-Pryce got the baton with a big lead. With her pink hair extensions swaying in the air behind her, she kept on building her advantage to cross in a Championship record of 41.29 seconds.
The United States failed to lead the gold medal standings for the first time since the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki 30 years ago. Instead, Russia topped the table with seven golds, while the Americans and Jamaicans won six. In the overall standings, the Americans dominated with 25, holding a wide lead over the host nation’s 17. (AP)
