After all the talk about Bolt falling off his elite pace and being outclassed by fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake, Bolt outraced the 22-year-old for gold, winning in an Olympic-record 9.63 seconds to Blake's 9.75. The United States grabbed bronze with 9.79 from Justin Gatlin.
"There was a lot of people saying that I wasn't going to win. There was a lot of talk," Bolt said. "For me, it was an even greater feeling to come out and show the world I'm still the No. 1. I'm still the best.
"Now he's focused on defending his Beijing gold medals in the 200 meters and 4x100 relay. If he does that, he'll be the first runner in Olympic history to ever defend all three. Which would be, in a word that Bolt likes, legendary.
"That’s my ultimate goal," Bolt said of being a legend. "That's it for me."
And he played the part Sunday. Running from Lane 7, Bolt was in the pack for the first 50 meters of the race until his long strides began boosting him forward. But unlike Beijing, he never opened up a wide margin in what was an extremely fast final. And with Blake and Gatlin in his pockets going into the finish, Bolt admitted he never thought about setting a world record or looked at the clock until the final 25 meters.
At that point, Bolt said, "It was too late to do anything about it."
Still, his 9.63 was remarkably fast – the second fastest ever behind his world record of 9.58 at the Berlin World Championships in 2009. With it, he now has the three fastest 100 meters in history next to his name. And he's only the second Olympic champion in the 100 meters to defend his title, joining the United State's Carl Lewis. Now he can admit it: Staying on top of the podium in 2012 was far more difficult than getting there for the first time in the 2008 Beijing Games.
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