London 2012 Athletics: Usain Bolt seals legendary status with unique double

Usain Bolt made history on Thursday when the Jamaican successfully defended his Olympic 200m crown to claim an unprecedented second successive sprint double.

Bolt, who retained his 100m title on Saturday, crossed the line in 19.32sec to win in front of a delirious sell-out 80,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium.

The 25-year-old's victory meant he bettered the record of US track legend Carl Lewis, who won three golds and a silver in the sprints at the 1984 and 1988 Games.

It was also the first time two individual track titles were successfully defended at successive Games since Finland's Lasse Viren won the 5000m and 10,000m in the Munich and Montreal Games in 1972 and 1976.

Bolt led a Jamaican clean sweep of the podium, with training partner Yohan Blake taking silver in 19.44sec and Warren Weir claiming a shock bronze in 19.84sec.

Running in lane seven, Bolt was up on Weir outside him within five paces after an explosive start.

As he rounded the bend, Blake briefly threatened from lane four, but teeth clenched and at full tilt, Bolt had enough to slow down a full 10 metres from the line, raising his finger to his lips as he did so.