2012 Summer OlympicsMedia MonsterSprinting

Usain Bolt Retains 100M Gold, Is Still Faster Than 7 Billion Other Humans

Usain Bolt wanted you to know it and have absolutely no doubts about it: he is the fastest man in the world. He could not be caught by his fellow countryman who bested him in qualifiers, the 2004 gold medalist, the American who holds just about every sprinting record his country has to offer or the 2008 version of himself, whose time he bested to set a new Olympic record. Watch Bolt run away in a blaze of glory. Just don’t blink.

Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, despite all the talk of the champion’s complacency and decline, could not catch Bolt Sunday night. It was touch-and-go for the first 50 meters, with Gatlin in particular getting off to a superb start, but Bolt left his competitors behind, probably dumbfounded by his superhuman second-half spurt.

Bolt’s time (9.63) was only .05 seconds off the world record mark he himself set in 2009, but .06 seconds ahead of the Olympic record he set in 2008. Blake took silver, finishing in 9.75 seconds, while Gatlin finished with a time of 9.79, good enough for bronze. Tyson Gay just missed a spot on the medal stand, finishing in fourth with a time of 9.80.

To be honest, I was nervous the race wouldn’t hold up to the hilarious pre-race performances from each of the sprinters. I’m glad I was wrong.

[Video via CJ Fogler]