Bolt adds to his legend

LONDON – Usain Bolt enlarged his legend Saturday with some good old-fashioned work.

For the first time at the London Games, he crossed the finish line with the look of a straining, hard-driving sportsman rather than a triumphant showman. He even threw his chest forward and leaned.

There was no doubt in Olympic Stadium that Bolt would get his third gold medal of these Summer Games when he took the baton in the 4x100-meter men's relay final about even with American anchor Ryan Bailey.

Bolt's challenge in the homestretch was getting the world record – just about the only distinction he hadn't earned, or proclaimed himself deserving of.

With a furious run through the line that left Bailey looking overmatched, Bolt strode home in 36.84 seconds, knocking 0.20 off the world mark he and his Jamaican teammates set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And he did it without striking a single pose.

"I was smiling after the race," Bolt said. "I was running really hard. I was really focused on running as fast as possible, because we really wanted the world record. … The fans were happy about the world record, so they forgave me for that."

The U.S. team of Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Bailey could take consolation in this: Their silver-medal finish in 37.04 broke the American record for the second straight night and matched Jamaica's previous world mark.

"That (U.S.) record was standing for 20 years before we touched down in London," Gatlin said. "I think it showed that America is getting ourselves together. We're back."

Earlier, the U.S. women produced a brilliant race of their own, winning the 4x400 relay gold with the fourth-best time ever and the fastest since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.

Their finish in 3 minutes, 16.87 seconds also was the second-fastest run by a U.S. team, trailing the 3:15.51 posted by a 1988 squad anchored by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988, when the Soviet Union set the world mark of 3:15.15.

American Brigetta Barrett added a silver medal in the high jump on the last night of competition. That gave the U.S. track and field team 29 medals, well ahead of second-place Russia, which has 18, with the hope of adding one more in today's men's marathon. If Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi or Abdi Abdirahman comes through in that event, that would give the U.S. team the 30 it sought after a miserable Beijing Games.

Though the United States won a respectable 23 track and field medals to lead the medal table in Beijing, it concluded those Olympics with back-to-back baton drops in the 4x100 relays that led to an overhaul of the team's performance division and the elimination of USA Track and Field's 6-year-old relay program.

U.S. men's Olympic track coach Andrew Valmon said the U.S. coaching staff sought changes in spirit more than technique.

"We asked everyone to check their egos at the door, and we talked about country and team," Valmon said. "Ultimately, we're excited about where we are."

This year, the U.S. relay teams produced no bobbles and mostly excellence, even though the U.S. men won silvers in both events. The men's 4x400 team was hampered by injuries to three of its top six athletes, and the 4x100 relay team simply met a better match in a Jamaican team anchored by the fastest man in history.

Friday, the U.S. women's 4x100 relay team broke a 27-year-old world record in winning gold. Saturday, the women's 4x400 relay team beat second-place Russia by 3.36 seconds.

Saturday's relay highlight came from Allyson Felix, who became the first U.S. woman since Griffith-Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals in one Games. She also ran the fastest leg of the night: 47.8 seconds.

"I considered us to be the Dream Team of the 400," said DeeDee Trotter, who ran the leadoff leg.

The British crowd might argue the night belonged to Britain's Mo Farah, who became the seventh man to win golds in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in the same Games with his 5,000 victory in 13:41.66. But for nearly everyone else, the Olympic Stadium was Bolt's stage.

Bolt served up some heavy showboating during his victory lap. He even paused to pose with Farah, putting his hands above his head in Farah's trademark "M" as Farah did Bolt's signature pose.

The victory gave Bolt six gold medals in his Olympic career: the 100, 200 and 4x100 golds in the last two Summer Games. Earlier, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge had said Bolt would not be a legend until he returned for multiple Olympic Games. Bolt said he hoped to be back for the 2016 Games, but he made it clear he didn't think he needed to return.

"Next time you see him, I think you should ask him what Usain needs to do that no human has ever done," Bolt said. "Because I've done it already."

• Read more articles by Amy Shipley

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