Usain Bolt lived up to all the hype and in the end set a new Olympic record of 9.63 seconds in winning the men’s 100-meter final. The lanky 25-year-old Jamaican from Trelawny edged his close friend and training partner Yohan Blake by eight hundredths of a second.
American Justin Gatlin, the oldest man in the field at 30, took the bronze medal with a time of 9.79 seconds.
Bolt had to work all the way to the end. He didn’t ease up and jog to the finish. Blake pushed him all the way. Bolt is once again the fastest man in the world. He did not break his world record time of 9.58 set in 2009, but perhaps nobody will ever eclipse that mark.
His time of 9.63 seconds is the second fastest time ever recorded, besting American Tyson Gay’s time of 9.69 seconds, a time he had also attained. Gay finished fourth with a time of 9.80.
Bolt, with Blake, went on to celebrate with the crowd at the Olympic Stadium with a Jamaican flag draped over his back. Bolt, who rose to super-stardom after Beijing in 2008, is an incredible athlete in the purest form of athleticism—sprinting.
The final actually had a record seven men attain times below 10 seconds.
This was a battle between the United States and Jamaica with the middle six positions alternating Jamaicans and Americans.
Asafa Powell was in the third lane and beside him was Gay. Blake was to Gay’s right in fifth position. Gatlin was in the sixth lane and Bolt started in the seventh lane. American Ryan Bailey rounded out the American contingent in the eighth lane.
It was another tough race for Powell, who pulled up and finished last.
Semifinals Recap
After the three semifinal heats, it was evident which two sprinters took it easy in reaching the final—Bolt and Blake. The two Jamaicans eased up in the final few meters and easily won their heats with times of 9.87 and 9.83 seconds respectively.
The fastest semifinal time was posted by Gatlin at 9.82 seconds in the first heat. Gatlin, 30, who served a four-year doping suspension, won his semifinal heat by the widest margin. Churandy Martina of Netherlands came second at 9.91 seconds.
Powell, 29, came third in the first heat at 9.94 seconds. Powell, who held the world record for three years before Bolt broke it in Beijing in 2008, has never finished higher than fifth at the Olympics.
Bolt was the star of the second semifinal heat. The 6-foot 5-inch Jamaican who holds eight Olympic and world championship gold medals got off to a slow start before turning on the jets and cruising to a 0.09 second victory over Bailey. Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago finished third and reached the final with a 10.02 seconds time, the “slowest” of any finalist.
In the third semifinal heat, all eyes were on Blake. The 2011 world champion and fastest man of 2012 with a time of 9.75 seconds held off the challenge of American Tyson Gay to win the heat.
Gay, a former 100- and 200-meter world champion came into the Olympics as a slight wildcard given his recovery from hip surgery last year. Gay finished second in impressive fashion with a time of 9.90—fourth fastest among all sprinters to reach the final.
Canadian Justin Warner, 25, finished fifth in the third heat with a time of 10.09. This was his personal best time and one he had also reached in the first round.
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