Usain Bolt wins third gold in Jamaica 4x100m relay victory

By Tom FordyceBBC chief sports writer at the Olympic Stadium

Last updated on .From the section Olympicscomments59

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.

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 and in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, plus the 4x100m relay, the latest gold means Bolt now has six Olympic golds before his 26th birthday.

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"external-link as he crossed the line, paying tribute to Britain's 5,000m and 10,000m double Olympic champion, Mo Farah.

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  • Hot on the heels of the American official questioning the Jamaica sprint team..we now have Carl Lewis mouthing off.
    The yanks just do not like ANYONE running faster than them ,do they?

  • I think Bolt is a remarkable and charasmatic athlete. He deserves all the attention and adoration from his fans. But I was disappointed that Bolt & Blake took off and left the other two members of the relay team behind. Without them there would have been no gold medals. It would have been nice if he had been able to share the glory as well as the podium. There's no I in team.

  • To all the sick people who believe Carl Lewis is somehow comparable to Usain Bolt.., go get help!

  • @2.The_Goatee_of_Steven_Gerrard
    "Carl lewis is a better athlete and Olympian than Bolt will ever be!"

    Have you just landed from the Planet Zarquon?

  • Athletics will be losing its star if Bolt goes. But what an amazing time watching it. Hope he does something at Rio.

  • Classy performance and to think with a fit Asafa Powell and practice on changeovers they could have been nearer 36.00
    Well done Blake, Frater, Bolt and Carter done your country proud

  • Legend!!

  • Apparently Asafa Powell's best split relay time was 8.4 seconds while Bolt did 8.8 last night. Truly unbelievable time. The Jamaicans are going top be the sprinters to beat for many years to come. I hope Bolt tries something new and it looks as though he will be playing some T20 cricket in Aus this year...

    http://jedidiahgore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/mo-farah-sprints-to-historic-long.html

  • what the world dont understand about jamaican sprinting,we didnt start doing this yesterday if you can look back we have been doing this from herb mckenley, donald quarrie,raymond stewart,merlene ottey,but we were under achiever well we have put things in place we have some of the best coaches if not the best in the world

  • none of the athletes that get done for doping should ever be able to compete again, they don't just magically lose the advantage they got from doping the second they stop using....

  • @11 Actually he DID receive the baton. Later on that same official returned it to him and he "responded with a bow of thanks and a chuckle, kissed the baton -- and then asked his teammates to autograph it." I LOVE Usain!

    http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id/8259728/2012-london-olympics-jamaica-sets-4x100-world-record-bolt

  • I love how Bolt dipped for the line, no early celebration because it was a team race - he gave it everything and they broke the WR. Awesome.

  • @31 Phelps still won the most medals in the pool at this games. Not a bad stain to have on your legacy. But I agree with the point re MSC and Rossi. MSC shouldn't have come bak and Rossi needs to retire now, being outraced by Hayden. I hope Bolt retires at the top, and doesnt turn ino a bitter old man like Carl Lewis

  • I agree about Lewis after reading up about his career. It does appear that he was more arrogant and big-headed than Bolt and it would be great if Usain could break the long jump world record in Rio. Lewis himself admitted to testing positive so it appears that Watergate was not the only thing that the US covered up.

    http://jedidiahgore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/mo-farah-sprints-to-historic-long.html

  • Bolt said he may go for the long jump. Mike Powell the World Record Holder says ''their are two things needed , height and speed and he has plenty.It is possible he could jump something unbelievable''. Their are no more world to conquer in sprinting, he has mastered everybody and I hope he goes to Rio and breaks Powell's record, that would realley make Carl Lewis more green eted than he already is

  • The interviews and pictures of Bolt and Mo Farah confirmed what a great Athlete and man Usian Bolt is. The look on the officials face when Bolt touched fists with him before he took to the blocks in 200 metres final will probably be one of the many great highlights of that young mans life

  • Amazing by Bolt and all the Jamaican team. Bolt's split time was 8.8 seconds! Astonishing. With six golds already he may be able to match or possibly beat Lewis' number of ten. As I have said before, I would love to see him change events. Maybe 400 or long jump could suit him down to the ground.

    http://jedidiahgore.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/mo-farah-sprints-to-historic-long.html

  • Don't see why Bolt is taking all the credit. Sure, he's the one that finished it, but he couldn't have done it without Blake. Yohan Blake got Jamaica out of third place to first, with quite a lead.

  • Alexander Stadium Perry Barr Birmingham their training facility they gave massive respect for.
    Womens 100M Gold and Bronze 200M Silver 4x100M Silver and 4 x 400M Bronze.
    Mens 100M Gold and Silver 200M Gold, Silver and Bronze 4x100M Gold WR and 4 x 400M Bronze.
    4 of each medal - big up Jamaica and Birmingham CITY on the London track. No make believe professors or bull kings just champions! Respect

  • #43 let's understand that the last three legs of a 4x100m is from a running start not a syatic one, obviously times will be less. Well done Jamaica :)

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