Usain Bolt enhanced his already legendary Olympic status with an unprecedented third consecutive 100m, 200m and 4x100m triple at Rio 2016, a feat that may well never be repeated. The holder of the world records at all three distances and an 11-time world champion, the Jamaican star bid farewell to the Olympic stage by celebrating his 30th birthday on the day of the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Games.
Between 16 August 2008 and 19 August 2016, Usain Bolt won 20 Olympic and world championship gold medals in the 21 events he entered, a staggering tally that makes him the greatest sprinter of all time. After winning his third consecutive Olympic 100m title in Rio, the Jamaican great was moved to comment: “Somebody said I can become immortal. Two more medals to go and I can sign off. Immortal.”
Then, after completing his “triple-double” with a third straight Olympic 200m triumph, he announced that he wanted to be up there with the very best of them all: “I am trying to be one of the greatest, among Ali and Pele.” And after crossing the line first in the 4x100m final and joining Finland’s Paavo Nurmi and the USA’s Carl Lewis as a nine-time Olympic gold medallist, an elated Bolt commented: “There you go, I’m the greatest. I’m just happy to have done what I came here to do. I’m proud of myself. The pressure is real, but I look at it as an accomplishment.”
