Rio Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt Goes Fast, Goes Long And Goes Right Into History

Gold spikes in his right hand, gold ring on his left middle finger, Usain Bolt lifted his arms in the air, the everlasting world's fastest man. He clapped his hands, making gold tap gold. The adoring Olympic Stadium crowd yelled and chanted his last name. For once, and soon forever, he can move slowly on a track.

It was fitting that Bolt had already taken off his shoes. In the 100 meters, he has nothing to prove anymore. The retiring champion, who turns 30 next week, became the first sprinter, male or female, to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the shortest and most contested event in the sport.

After he toyed with another outstanding field and crossed the finish line in 9.81 seconds Sunday night, beating Justin Gatlin once again, Bolt took his speed and his longevity to a place that exaggeration can't eclipse.

For the fleet-footed, dominance is supposed to be fleeting. The world's fastest man (woman, too) is a hot-potato title. It's as if these sprinters get passed during their victory lap.

But Bolt is different. He always has been, ever since the 6-foot-5 phenomenon ran a 9.69 in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics, declaring his greatness with chest-pounding exuberance the final 20 meters of the race.

Two Olympics later, he still owns the 100, seemingly fewer than 10 strides to post times under 10 seconds.

"That puts him among the legends," said fellow Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake, who finished fourth. "You're talking about Muhammad Ali and all those other guys. It's not easy to do what he did over years. Four years and four years and four years, it's not easy."

Entering the race, Bolt had joined Carl Lewis as the only men to win 100-meter gold in back-to-back Games since the event debuted at the first modern Olympics in 1896. When Lewis became the first in 1988, he actually crossed the finish line second, but the winner, Ben Johnson, was disqualified for doping.

The women's 100 meters became an Olympic sport in 1928. Three women have gone back to back: Wyomia Tyus, Gail Devers and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. On Saturday night, Fraser-Pryce, who is 29 and four months younger than her countryman Bolt, attempted the 100 three-peat.

She even ran with yellow and green hair - Jamaica's colors - for the occasion. But she finished third. She handed her crown to her 24-year-old training partner, Elaine Thompson. Tori Bowie, 25, won the silver.

"In 2008, it was my time," Fraser-Pryce said, bowing to Thompson. "In 2016, it is her time."

Bolt achieves Olympic immortality

Champions fade in this event. There are few glorious send-offs. Longevity only reveals the superiority of Father Time. There is always someone younger, someone faster. Veteran savvy has an early expiration date. It spoils faster than dairy.

Lewis is the most accomplished track and field athlete in Olympic history. He owns 10 medals, nine gold and one silver. Six of them are for sprinting.

He was dominant as a 23-year-old in Los Angeles in 1984, and he was still relevant during the 1996 Atlanta Games, winning an incredible fourth straight Olympic gold in the long jump.

By track standards, Lewis had a Michael Phelps-ian run. But for as long as he lasted, his 100-meter reign ended well before the rest of his greatness ceased.

By the 1992 U.S. Olympic trials, Lewis had gone from back-to-back Olympic champion to a sixth-place non-qualifier. He was 31, and it was over. In the 1996 trials, he finished last in the 100-meter final.

Later that year, Lewis won his ninth Olympic gold by winning the long jump. Then there was a nostalgic push to include him on the 4x100 relay team so that he'd have an opportunity to win a 10th gold. It prompted outspoken sprinter Jon Drummond to denounce a legend that he grew up idolizing.

"He got butt-naked last at the trials," Drummond said.

Drummond laughed and said: "I'm sorry, Carl. I'm sorry."

This was nothing like the Kobe Bryant retirement tour.

Over 28 Olympic competitions, three men stand out as the greatest 100-meter champions: Jesse Owens, Lewis and Bolt. Owens was a month shy of 23 when he won the 100 and three other gold medals during his historic, Hitler-crushing 1936 Olympics.

But soon after, he was stripped of his amateur status -- and the chance to stretch his athletic eminence -- because he upset Amateur Athletic Union officials when he left a post-Olympic tour and returned home to try to capitalize monetarily on his fame.

Even if Owens had remained an amateur, he wouldn't have been able to participate in the next two Olympics because World War II forced them to be canceled.

Sprinters run fast and run away faster. The shorter the sprint, the shorter the dominance. Yet there was Bolt, coming to the Olympics in a better position than any man before him despite a balky hamstring that threatened to keep him out of Rio and periodic bouts of boredom.

No sprinter has ever risen to the occasion as consistently and impressively as Bolt. He proved that one more time Sunday.

"Somebody said I can become immortal," said Bolt, who will still compete in the 200 and the 4x100 relay during his Olympics swan song. "Two more medals to go, and I can sign off. Immortal."

He's already immortal in the 100.

Shoes off, hat turned backward, flag over his shoulder, he struck his famous Lightning Bolt pose one more time. That's how he'll always be remembered.