Usain Bolt thundered down the home straight, the final finish line of his Olympics career rapidly approaching.
The result of the race was no longer in doubt, the fastest man ever was pulling away from the field.
There would be no showing off, no big smiles, no easing up before crossing the line. Bolt flew into history, capping his track “triple triple” with an emphatic anchor leg in the men’s 4×100-meter relay.
“I prepared myself and I worked hard to get here,” he told Olympics broadcaster NBC. “And I couldn’t have done the triple without my teammates, so I have to give thanks for them.”
Japan was a surprising second and the United States appeared to win bronze — a medal taken away when the Americans were disqualified for an illegal pass.
Bolt still has one more thing to celebrate in Rio. He turns 30 on Sunday.
More details on swimmers incident in Rio
Ryan Lochte apologized for his actions. Gunnar Bentz apologized for getting involved in the situation, one that became an international incident as authorities tried to get to the bottom of a reported robbery.
Brazilian police say there was no robbery but both Bentz and Lochte, gold medal swimmers in Rio for the United States, say they had guns pointed at them and money demanded. Police say the money was to pay for vandalism and the guards were justified to use their guns to control the situation.
Bentz said it was Lochte who pulled down an advertising sign on a wall and later started a heated argument with the guards, who had their guns drawn.
And that brings up the question: Can you call what the guards did a robbery? Again police say no, and Bentz’s statement never uses that word. Lochte’s statement doesn’t either. But the 12-time Olympic medalist explains he was traumatized by having a gun pointed at him and a man telling him in a language he couldn’t understand, that he needed to pay in order to go back to his Olympics home.
Meanwhile US officials are still looking into the incident, trying to figure out if the athletes should be sanctioned.
Germany goes for football triple
German football teams sure like Brazil.
Two years ago, the men’s national team won the World Cup.
On Friday the women’s national team won the Olympic title.
And Saturday, the men’s Olympic team will go for the hat-trick.
The gold medal is a first for a German team since East Germany won on the men’s side in 1976.
“I’m very proud of my team. It’s amazing. Unexplainable,” Germany’s Dzsenifer Marozsan said after Die Nationalelf downed Sweden 2-1.
A frantic closing period saw the Scandinavians push for an equalizer — making a mockery of the cowards tag previously given them by US goalkeeper, Hope Solo — but Germany always looked dangerous on the break and Sweden was unable to pounce on any scoring chances.
Saturday’s task for the German men is a little more daunting as they face host Brazil.
Leftovers go to good use
The “Refettorio Gastromotiva” in Rio is open exclusively to the city’s homeless population, who will be served piping hot meals made with surplus food supplies from the caterers of the 2016 Summer Olympic venues.
Italian master chef Massimo says, “We are serving 100 meals a day to homeless guests. This is not a charity, this is a cultural project.”
The Michelin-starred “Osteria Francescana” chef teamed up with Brazilian entrepreneur and fellow chef David Hertz to bring the project to the Olympic host city. Hertz explains one of the project’s main goals is to reduce food waste.
“Some of the products we use may not sell at the supermarket because they are ugly or maybe a bit riper,” Hertz says, picking up a green pepper. “We don’t care if they are ugly, we know how make the most out of these ingredients.”
Once the Olympic festivities wrap up this weekend, Refettorio Gastromotiva will open its doors to the paying public for lunch.
Gold medal roundup
Athletics, Men’s 50-kilometer Race Walk — Matej Toth, Slovakia
Athletics, Women’s 20-kilometer Race Walk — Liu Hong, China
Athletics, Men’s Hammer Throw — Dilshod Nazarov, Tajikistan
Athletics, Men’s 4×100-Meter Relay — Jamaica
Athletics, Women’s 5,000 Meters — Vivian Cheruiyot, Kenya
Athletics, Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay — United States
Athletics, Women’s Pole Vault — Ekaterini Stefanidi, Greece
Badminton, Men’s Doubles — China
Badminton, Women’s Singles — Carolina Marin, Spain
Boxing, Women’s Lightweight — Estelle Mossely, France
Cycling BMX, Men’s — Connor Fields, United States
Cycling BMX, Women’s — Mariana Pajon, Colombia
Equestrian, Individual Jumping — Nick Skelton, Great Britain
Football, Women’s — Germany
Hockey, Women’s — Great Britain
Modern Pentathlon, Women — Chloe Esposito, Australia
Synchronized Swimming, Team Freestyle — Russia
Taekwondo, Men’s -80 kilograms — Cheick Sallah Junior Cisse, Ivory Coast
Taekwondo, Women’s -67 kilograms — Oh Hye-ri, South Korea
Water Polo, Women’s — United States
Wrestling, Men’s Freestyle -67 kilograms — Vladimer Khinchegashvili, Georgia
Wrestling, Men’s Freestyle 74 kilograms — Hassan Aliazam Yazdanicharati, Iran