Jamaican Usain Bolt ends Rio Olympic presence with 9th gold medal

Usain Bolt ended his Olympic career by claiming an unprecedented ‘triple triple’ and his ninth gold as Jamaica won the 4x100m relay final in Rio.

Bolt, 29, had won the 100m and 200m in Rio and is the only man to win all three sprint events at three Games.

He combined with Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade to lift gold in a time of 37.27 seconds.

“There you go, I’m the greatest,” said Bolt, who has won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the last three Games.

He intends to retire after the 2017 World Championships in London and will not compete at Tokyo 2020, at which point he will be nearly 34.

Bolt’s haul of nine golds is the joint highest among Olympic athletics.

He is now equal with USA sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis, who won nine golds over four Games, and Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi.