They say lightning never strikes twice, let alone three times, but Usain Bolt has his eyes set on immortality after again claiming the title of fastest man in the world.
The Jamaican sprint legend emerged victorious in his grudge match against American Justin Gatlin to win his third successive gold medal in the 100m final race on Sunday night, running the track in 9.81 seconds.
Gatlin, who finished in 9.89 seconds, took home the silver medal while Andre De Grasse of Canada nabbed the bronze.
It was an epic sprint for the line and midway Gatlin appeared to have got the better of Bolt.
But Bolt picked up and ran first over the line, his face immediately breaking into his signature showman smile.
'It was brilliant,' the legend said after his victorious run. 'I didn't go so fast but I'm so happy I won. I told you guys I was going to do it.'
Sunday was the race the planet tuned into see and Bolt ensured he would become the first athlete to ever win the 100m three times - and at three straight Olympics.
Bolt is now just two races away from completing the ‘triple triple’ and winning three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
It would be the perfect final Olympics for the legend, who has repeatedly said he will retire after Rio.
'Somebody said I can become immortal,' Bolt said after the race on Sunday. 'Two more medals to go and I can sign off. Immortal.'
Bolt, who hopes to break the world record in the 200m - his favorite event - on Thursday added that he would be disappointed if he did not complete the 'triple triple'.
'I came to these Olympics to win three golds and prove I am one of the greats,' he said.
'If I fail I will feel sad and I will not feel accomplished.'
But on Sunday Bolt was happy to soak in the roaring cheers and applause as he grabbed his national flag and smiled back at his loving audience.
Gatlin, meanwhile, was widely booed as he entered the track, a sound that shocked Bolt.
'That's the first time I've gone into a stadium and they've started to boo (Gatlin),' he said. 'It surprised me.’
But Bolt didn't stop to shake Gatlin's hand after the race, instead running another 100 yards around the track before later embracing De Grasse.
Despite the cold welcome from both the crowd and his rival, Gatlin still soaked in his silver medal victory and made his victory lap with the American flag draped around his shoulders.
'We work 365 days a year to be here for nine seconds,' Gatlin said after winning his third Olympic medal. 'At the age of 34, to race these young guys and still make the podium feels so good.'
'That was for my son. If he's watching…I love you, son.'
Gatlin said he only had 'love and respect' for the other medal winners, and that he knew he had to live with the jeers.
The race was billed as an epic head-to-head between Bolt and Gatlin, who has one Olympic gold medal and a career racked with drug controversy.
While pockets of empty seats could be seen at the Engenhao stadium on Sunday night, it was standing room only at Jamaica House, which was crammed with athletics fans - both visiting and local.
As Bolt cruised to victory a huge cheer went up - with some of the ecstatic Jamaicans breaking into little dances of delight.
Among them was Erica Scarlet Black, an expat living in Connecticut, who said Bolt's victory was 'very good for our little country'.
Draped in the Jamaican flag and watching with her friend Marlene Lindsay, Black added: 'He is the greatest! This is so good for our little country Jamaica.'
Asked if Bolt's victory had made flying to Rio worth the air fare, she added: 'We came here just to see Usain run and this has made it well worth the money.'
Antoinette Shaw, of Saint Mary, Jamaica, is another Bolt fan who flew to Rio just to see him in action.
Ecstatic following his win, she said she expects the 29-year-old to go on and complete an unprecedented 'triple-triple' of gold medals.
'I'm sure he will,' she said, punching the air in delight. 'I'm confident he'll do it - and so is he.'
She added: 'This is just brilliant - he is the best and I had to come here to support him and all the other Jamaican athletes.'
Bolt's latest triumph was screened to the crowds at Jamaica House, which occupies part of the Jockey Club in the upmarket suburb of Gavea, via a series of big screens.
The crowd, which had begun trickling in as soon as the doors opened at 6pm, had burst into cheers each time the Jamaican champion appeared - with even his semifinal victory greeted with a roar.
Ratcheting up the tension and entertaining the crowds between heats was DJ Narrity, flown in from Kingston to provide a soundtrack to Bolt's final Olympics.
Although Narrity made game attempts to drum up interest in Yohan Blake, women's 100m gold medalist Elaine Thompson and 'former Jamaicans' such as Bahrain's Kemarley Brown, for the fans at Jamaica House, the night belonged to Bolt.
And the legend proved in the semifinals that he wasn’t going to relinquish his title easily.
He appeared to be cantering along and mocking his opponents as first he looked to his right and then swung his head to his left to look at his rivals behind him, trying to keep pace.
Bolt crossed the line in 9.86 seconds, the fastest time in the three semifinal heats, with a huge grin and a point at the cameras, clearly saving his best for the final.
As he celebrated, Bolt took off his spikes and climbed up to the spectators to greet his family.
It took him a few minutes, but he delighted the crowd with his trade mark ‘Bolt’ signal
Bolt had received the loudest cheers inside the Olympic Stadium, while New Yorker Gatlin was booed and jeered when his name was called at the start.
Gatlin, evidently angry at his reception, crossed the line in 9.94secs and stormed off straight down the tunnel as the other runners stayed on the track shaking hands.
Both Bolt and Gatlin later complained about the closeness of the semifinals and the final, revealing that the 30 minutes to an hour they had to rest between the races had left them tired.
The 100m final was not only the most eagerly awaited event of Rio 2016, but a personal grudge match between the Jamaican and American ace sprinters.
Bolt, who will be 30 on Sunday, said Gatlin would 'feel his full wrath' when they finally came head-to-head on the Olympic track.
The sprinter was unimpressed when Gatlin focused on the six-times Olympic gold medalist's slight injury worries earlier this summer, claiming the champion had been given 'a medical pass' to compete after missing the Jamaican trials.
'He's injured, gets a medical pass, that's what his country does. Our country doesn't do that,' Gatlin was quoted as saying in the American press.
Bolt, who was hailed as the savior of his sport after his 100m and 200m victories ahead of Gatlin at last year's World Championships in Beijing, soon hit back.
'For me I felt it was a joke - I felt it was a disrespect they think I'd back out of a trials,' he said.
'I've proven myself year on year that I'm the greatest. I laughed when I heard it. I was disappointed, especially in Justin Gatlin.'
Team US Olympic officials have pleaded for America to finally forgive Gatlin as he attempted to become the fastest man in the world once again.
Gatlin won gold in the Men's 100m final at the 2004 Athens games, but was later convicted of a doping offense and served a four-year ban, returning to competitive athletics in 2011.
It was the second controversy to descend on the 34-year-old track star after he was banned in 2001 from international competition for two years.
He tested positive for amphetamines, but later successfully appealed that the positive test had been due to medication that he had been taking since his childhood, when he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.
'At the end of the day, the time has been served. I've served that time,' Gatlin said on Wednesday.
'I've dealt with that punishment. I've moved forward.'
But the sprinter has not been able to shake off his accusers as he attempted to give Bolt a 'run for his money' after claiming bronze against the Jamaican in London.
And Gatlin's coaches were insistent that beating Bolt to the Olympic title should not be seen as a 'tainted gold.'
Tracy Sundlin, who is in charge of the US track and field men's team, told Daily Mail Online: 'That would be wrong. Justin is a remarkably talented athlete who clearly made a mistake at some point.'
'He has paid dearly for that mistake. He has owned up to that mistake.'
'If people saw what he is doing and the amount of effort… if they saw his heart, I think they would feel as I do.'
'People do forget how truly special a talent he was. He was a world class hurdler as well as a sprinter.'
'He has done things that people don't understand and appreciate.'
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