Usain Bolt says he is immortal and he is proving to be exactly that as he won his record-setting third straight title in track’s featured event and his seventh Olympic gold with 100 metres victory on Sunday night in Rio.
He has already swept aside pretty much every sprinter who had any claim on being the greatest. As the king of sprinting and the biggest global star at the Rio Games, Usain Bolt of Jamaica held aloft his index finger, signaling that he was No. 1, during introductions Sunday night as a smitten crowd chanted his name.
So, on a muggy night in Rio, Bolt took aim at Michael Phelps, shoving the swimmer and all his 23 medals to the background and made it official: The Bolt Games have begun.
“I told you guys I wanted to set myself apart from everybody else,” Bolt said. “This is the Olympics that I have to do it at.”
Bolt left in his trail American dope tainted Justin Gatlin, who was greeted by the fans with raucous boos, by .08 seconds. Andre de Grasse of Canada won the bronze.
Bolt has a chance for two more golds — in his favorite race, the 200 final Thursday, then in the 4×100 relay Saturday night. “Somebody said I can become immortal,” Bolt said. “Two more medals to go and I can sign off. Immortal.”
