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Jamaica smash record to win relay gold
Usain Bolt wins third gold in Jamaica 4x100m relay victory
Usain Bolt won his third gold medal of the 2012 Olympics as he anchored Jamaica's sprint relay team to a sensational world record.
Jamaica's quartet clocked 36.84 seconds, smashing the old mark by two-tenths of a second and leaving the United States with silver.
Usain Bolt on why he and Mo Farah traded celebrations
Nesta Carter and Michael Frater produced excellent first and second legs but it was 100m and 200m silver medallist Yohan Blake's blistering third leg that set the platform.
Bolt provided the perfect finale - exploding away to leave Ryan Bailey trailing as the capacity crowd stood to acclaim him.
Canada were initially given bronze before being disqualified when third-leg runner Jared Connaughton stepped outside of his lane, meaning Trinidad and Tobago were promoted to third place.
After winning the 100m and 200m in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, plus the 4x100m relay, the latest gold means Bolt now has six Olympic golds before his 26th birthday.
Analysis
"It was electric. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and it was all because of this race. The big difference was when Blake received the baton he tore around the bend - and he was up against Tyson Gay! Usain Bolt was watching that clock all the way down the home straight."
It was a fitting way to conclude a wonderful nine days of athletics in the Olympic Stadium.
Bolt said London 2012 had been "amazing" and on the race added: "It's a wonderful feeling to end on a high note. It was a great championships, I'm happy, the team came out and gave it their all, I wish we could have gone faster but we leave room for improvement."
He said he did not know if he would be aiming for a third treble gold haul in Rio 2016: "It's going to be hard. Yohan is running hard and I'm sure there's going to be more young cats coming up."
Usain Bolt celebrated with a "Mobot" as he crossed the line, paying tribute to Britain's 5,000m and 10,000m double Olympic champion, Mo Farah.
Final Results
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Medal moment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carter, Frater, Blake, Bolt, Bailey-cole |
Jamaica
|
|
| 2 | Kimmons, Gatlin, Gay, Bailey, Demps, Patton |
Team USA
|
|
| 3 | Bledman, Burns, Callender, Thompson |
Trinidad and Tobago
|
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Comment number 59.
New Victorians12th August 2012 - 23:27
What Bolt has shown the world is that it's possible to be a great professional in any field and have fun at the same time. His strengh comes from the inside.
Link to this (Comment number 59)
Comment number 58.
ReallyReal12th August 2012 - 17:47
As great as Bolt is, there was an athlete who won 3 golds at 3 different distances, so it's about time the greatest runner in the world got the credit she deserves, all hail Allyson Felix winner of the 200m and both the 100m and 400m relays.
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Comment number 57.
DrCajetanCoelho12th August 2012 - 15:10
Congratulations
to Jamaica's gold medal winning team
of Carter, Frater, Blake, Bolt and Bailey-Cole
Dr. Cajetan Coelho
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Comment number 56.
Surely not12th August 2012 - 13:04
Take a leaf out of cyclings book.
Create a sprinting mecca for 100, 200, 400, 110 hurdles and relays.
Base it in London and watch the results.
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Comment number 55.
david F12th August 2012 - 12:18
These games have been the best I can remember in my time - and am pushing mid 50s...' Insane BoIt' is the bees knees - PG he is in 20/20 cricket or whatever but dont Iet Rio drag you to the Scum at OT... better take the high road akin to your friend Mo Farah. He adores the ArsenaI but has no intention of doing it... Keep to your best sport and Ieave Racism to be sorted by the FA.
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