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I�m happy and proud of myself: Bolt

By PABITRA GOGOI

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 16 - It was a thrilling Sunday night here at the Olympic Stadium as sprint king Usain Bolt of Jamaica walked away with his third Olympic 100m gold medal. �I am happy and I am proud of myself,� said Bolt in the media conference after the historic win. �I will be immortal if I can win 200m and the 100x4 relay here,� the 6ft 5in great added.

There was no doubt that Bolt will cross the finishing line in less than 10 seconds. All eyes were on lane No. 6, Bolt�s lane and the champion finished the dash in 9.81. It was a little bit foggy Sunday night in Rio and the capacity crowd of over 60,000 started chanting: �Bolt, Bolt, Bolt�.

Bolt was, however, not at his fastest tonight. His World Record is 9.58 and the Olympic Record is 9.63 which he set on August 16, 2009 in Berlin and August 5, 2012 in London, respectively.

Bolt, who burst onto the scene with his world record eight years ago in Beijing, turns 30 after these Olympics and already announced that this will be his last Olympics. He became the first person to capture three straight 100-metre titles in Olympics.

Bolt overcame his typically slow start from the blocks, gradually took up speed. Initially, Justin Gatlin of USA was ahead of him till 60 metres left. Then Bolt overtook Gatlin and started celebrating - pointing at his chest with his thumb - and crossed the finish line. Later in Photo Finish, it became clear that Bolt was first and behind him was Gatlin at 9.89 second. Canadian Andre de Grasse (9.91 second) had to be satisfied with the bronze.

After the historic run, the overjoyed runner said, �I am a living legend. 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. I am here to win three gold medals, to prove myself again as one of the greats.�

Bolt sets sights on 300m with Wayde

Meanwhile, Bolt has set his sights on the 300m race with the 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa who toppled World and Olympic mark last evening.

Prior to Bolt�s showdown, Van Niekerk had stolen the headlines, breaking Michael Johnson�s 17-year World Record in the 400m with a time of 43.03secs � all the more impressive given the South African was racing from lane eight.

Bolt�s coach has previously said that the 400m would be a strong distance for him. However, the seven-time Olympic champion felt a slightly shorter race against Van Niekerk would be a good one. �That would be a good one, that would be a good race,� Bolt said.

�This year I was hoping I would be in good shape when my coach told me they were going to put on a 300m at a Grand Prix meet. I wasn�t in the best of shape but I really, really wanted to be in that race... Hopefully next season, if he is in good shape and my coach puts the meet on again. I would really like to compete against him over 300m; that would be good.�

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