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London 2012: Usain Bolt takes gold in the 200
Jamaican super star athlete Usain Bolt secured the gold medal after winning the 200 meter final. PHOTO/Julia Vynokurova/Getty Images
Usain Bolt secured his place in sports history and backed up his billing as a “living legend” by winning the Olympic 200 meters and becoming the first athlete to repeat as double Olympic sprint champion.
Undaunted by the first world record of the Olympic track meet run by 800-meter winner David Rudisha less than an hour before his final, Bolt was not going to be upstaged by anyone.
From the starter’s gun, he dominated his favorite event and had enough of a lead to slow down at the line, bring his left index finger to his mouth and “ssssshhh” the crowd.
That was never going to work. The 80,000-capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium went wild as Bolt delivered on his promise of winning when it counts – as he almost always does.
His 19.32-second winning time was just .02 seconds outside his winning mark at the Beijing Olympics.
Just like Sunday’s victory in the 100, his junior training partner Yohan Blake was the runner who could stay closest, and Warren Weir made it a full Jamaican medal sweep before Wallace Spearmon of the United States crossed in fourth place.
“The guy is just on another planet right now,” Spearmon said of Bolt.
The Jamaican can even still make it 6-for-6 at two Olympics if he leads his nation to victory in the 4×100 relays.
David Rudisha predicted a world record and delivered with an overpowering show of front-running to win the 800 title.
When many were still hoping that Bolt would set such a world mark in the 200 later Thursday, the Kenyan stole some of the Jamaican sprinter’s thunder at the beginning of a balmy evening suited for setting great times.
Rudisha set off with his giant strides from the starting gun, immediately took the lead and steadily built on it, as many of the year’s greatest middle distance runners could never even get close.
He finished in 1 minute 40.91 seconds, shaving .10 of a second off the mark he set in 2010.
“Yes, he’s the greatest runner,” said Timothy Kitum, Rudisha’s teammate who took bronze. “He told me he’s going to run a word record today. He’s the best.”
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press