Sprint double done, now for some fun: Bolt

Even self-proclaimed “living legends” like Usain Bolt need to have a bit of fun at the Olympics. On Friday, newly crowned repeat double sprint champion Bolt will be counting on his fellow Jamaican sprinters to get the 4x100 relay team into Saturday’s final where he will be favored to clinch his sixth Olympic title spread over two games. The individual pressure is off him after he won the Olympic 200 meters on Thursday night to become the first athlete to repeat as double Olympic sprint champion. “It’s all about the 4x100 now, to have some fun and go out there and do our best,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_413633” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Even Olympic ’legends’ have to have fun: Reuters[/caption]And the way Jamaican sprinters have been dominating — with 5 of 6 medals in the 100 and 200 meters — it seems more a matter of passing the baton correctly than stretching for maximum speed. Get dual silver medalist Yohan Blake to hand off to Bolt and all seems set for a fitting finale to the Bolt show at the Olympics. Pushing 26, and with younger men closing in on him, Bolt will reassess his goals and the 2016 Rio Games don’t figure too much right now. “It’s going to be a hard mission. I think I’ve had my time,” Bolt said. “In life, anything’s possible but it’s going to be a hard reach. I’m not looking that far. I’ve made myself a legend, I’m going to enjoy it right now.” There is plenty to enjoy. On Thursday, he dominated his favorite event almost from the starting gun and had enough of a lead to slow down at the line, bring his left index finger to his lips and signal a “ssssshhh” that was broadcast around the globe. His second gold of the games should certainly silence the critics who claimed he was out of form ahead of the Olympics after losses to Blake at the Jamaican trials. “That was for all the people that doubted me,” Bolt said. “I was just telling them, ‘You can stop talking now because I am a legend.’” But he didn’t stand a chance of hushing the 80,000-capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium, which went wild as Bolt delivered on his promise of winning when it counts most. They knew they were witness to something unique. “I’ve done something that no one has done before, which is defend my double title,” Bolt said. “Back-to-back for me, I would say I’m the greatest.” 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 Blake stayed 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. Bolt kissed the track twice before striking his trademark “To the World” pose, pointing both his index fingers upward to show what he had achieved. He can still make it 6-for-6 at two Olympics if he leads his nation to victory in the relay. His win in the 100 seemed to take a weight off his shoulders for his more favored event, the 200. Thursday’s warm evening and a shot at the double-double brought out the swaggering Bolt of old. Wearing a yellow cap backwards and joking with the volunteer looking after his kit, he made the pre-race activities feel like a small-town Caribbean weekend track meet. Next to him, Blake was all intensity and concentration. But it wasn’t enough to upstage Bolt like he did at the Jamaican trials. In the 800 meters, David Rudisha was just as confident as Bolt. He predicted a world record and delivered with an overpowering show of front-running to win the gold. When many were still hoping that Bolt would set 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. 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 world record today. He’s the best.” The decathlon traditionally crowns “the world’s greatest athlete” but for Ashton Eaton it was tough to get much attention on a night when Bolt and Rudisha were dominant. World-record holder Eaton won by 198 points from U.S. teammate and two time world champion Trey Hardee. Leonel Suarez of Cuba took the bronze. The United States had another 1-2 finish when Christian Taylor won the triple jump gold medal, overhauling U.S. teammate Will Claye with his fourth jump in the final. It left the United States atop the track and field medal standings, with seven gold and 24 overall, still on target to meet its goal of 30. Jamaica’s sweep in the 200 helped the Caribbean nation of 2.9 million people join Russia in second place on the gold medal standings with three apiece. Associated Press