Bolt races to ninth gold as Jamaica wins 4x100m relay

Usain Bolt poses with his third gold medal at Rio 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt closed out his stay at the Olympics on Friday night with a final gold medal, further defending his self-declared title as “the greatest.” Bolt completed a "triple-triple," winning gold in all of his three races in Rio.

The 29-year-old Bolt led Jamaica to victory in the 4x100m relay, helping his country cross the finish line in 37.27 seconds.

Japan took home the silver medal, finishing .33 seconds behind, with a final time of 37.60 seconds.

The US men’s team finished third, but was disqualified after leadoff runner Mike Rodgers passed the baton to Justin Gatlin outside of the exchange zone.

In an embarassing defeat, this marks the ninth time the US has been disqualified in the relay in the past 21 years.

The disqualification bumped up Canada to the bronze medal winner, with a final time of 37.64 seconds.

Jamaica's team, which consisted of Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade finished the race only half a second behind the world record.

As Ashmeade passed the yellow baton to Bolt in the final leg of the race, Bolt appeared even to Japan's Aska Cambridge and Trayvon Bromwell of the United States.

But that didn't last long. Bolt immediately sprinted past the two runners to give Jamaica the gold.

The relay handed Bolt a third straight gold medal in Rio, polishing off the 100m, 200m and 4x100m with a clean sweep. Bolt, who at the start of the week stated he would be an “immortal,” if he could achieve the “triple-triple,” gave himself more praise following the end of the relay.

"There you go. I'm the greatest," said Bolt, as he bent down to kiss the finish line in front of the cameras.

Friday’s relay was Bolt’s ninth Olympic race, and ninth win. It’s a record that’s never beaten, and isn’t likely to be toppled any time soon.

Bolt, who turns 30 on Sunday, also told reporters that this would be his last Olympic games.