Usain Bolt: I’ll join the ranks of the immortal if I complete “triple triple” of Olympic sprint golds at Rio
Usain Bolt says he will join the ranks of the “immortal” if he follows the defence of his 100m crown with further gold medals in the 200m and 4 x 100m this week at the Rio Olympics.
Bolt held off American Justin Gatlin and Canada’s Andre de Grasse to clinch the first leg of his quest for the “triple triple” – an unprecedented third consecutive hat-trick of Olympic sprint titles – in the early hours of Monday morning.
He can add the 200m on Friday, with the relay final to follow 24 hours later.
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“Somebody said if I win these three gold medals I would be immortal and I kind of liked it. So I’m going to run with that one,” he said.
“I came here to achieve three gold medals. I came to prove I’m one of the greats. It was important to get it done – three times is magnificent.”
Bolt believes he could surpass his own world record of 19.19 seconds in the 200m, where he will face Gatlin again.
The Jamaican added: “I’m excited about what’s about to happen for the rest of the Olympics. I really want the 200m world record.”