I am sad I have to leave: Bolt

The former world record holder Asafa Powell, Bolt’s training partner Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade gave the double sprint world record holder the lead at the final exchange, albeit an extremely slim one. 

That was always going to be enough for Bolt in his final Olympic race, however, and he powered down the straight to finish five metres clear of Japan’s Aska Cambridge. 

“I told the guys, ‘don’t give me too much work to do, make it easy’,” Bolt said. 

“And they did exactly that, I had no work to do, just to run to the line”. 

“There you go, I am the greatest. I’ve worked hard every Olympics to win three gold medals... so I’m just happy that I’ve accomplished so much,” Bolt told reporters. 

“It’s a relief but I’m also sad that I have to leave. This is my last one... It’s just so many special feelings I’m feeling.” “I’m definitely going to miss the crowd and the energy and just the competition,” Bolt said. “I love competing. So I’m going to miss all of that. But it’s been a great career, I’ve done great, I’m just happy with myself.”