The World Athletics Championships were all the rage last weekend in Oregon, however, certain moments were marred by controversy on social media. After the 100-meter hurdles, American track-and-field legend Michael Johnson had some choice words on Twitter questioning the legitimacy of the competition.

“I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set,” Johnson tweeted. Many people said his skepticism was about a Nigerian athlete winning, Tobi Amusan, who had a blistering 12.12 performance in the 100-meter semi-final.

After the backlash, Johnson did not track back his statement, rather he doubled down and defended his comments, saying that he was not being racist tweeting, “As a commentator, my job is to comment. In questioning the times of 28 athletes (not 1 athlete) by wondering if the timing system malfunctioned, I was attacked, accused of racism, and of questioning the talent of an athlete I respect and predicted to win. Unacceptable. I move on.”

Johnson is one of the most prolific athletes in U.S. Track and Field history. Winning four Olympic Gold Medals as a sprinter and eight gold medals at the World Championships. He previously held the national records for the 200, 3000, and 400 meters. Johnson was elected to the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004. He has been an analyst for BBC and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph covering track and field.

Allyson Felix is walking away from Tokyo an Olympic medalist, snagging a bronze medal in the 400-meter race. The win ties her for most race medals in U.S. track history.

Felix finished with a final time of 49.46 seconds, missing out on gold by 1.10 seconds.

If Felix is selected for the 4×400 relay race, she will have a shot at history: the most medals in racing in the history of the U.S. Olympic team.

Felix has won races in the Olympics in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016, meaning Tokyo is the fifth straight Olympic Games she has stood on the medal podium.

Current medal count record-holder Carl Lewis tweeted a congratulatory message for Felix:

Athing Mu, a runner for Team USA hailing from New Jersey, became the first woman since 1968 from the United States to grab gold in the 800-meter race. Mu’s performance in Tokyo is also the fastest time an American has ever recorded in the event.

“Now I am happy and satisfied, I am glad I did what I have been doing all year, and not switching off because I am at the Olympics. Just being me is what makes me more proud about this experience,” Mu said of her efforts.

Alongside Mu for the U.S. was Raevyn Rodgers, who secured third place and a bronze medal.

Mu had envisaged herself winning well before the Olympics, telling reporters, “I’m looking forward to standing on the podium, the middle one, and receiving the gold medal that in the future will have my name engraved on it.”

Outside of the 800-meter event, Gabby Thomas of the United States also medaled, finishing in third place in the 200-meter race.

“The last thing my coach told me was to stay relaxed throughout the entire race and I think that is what got me the medal,” said the Harvard alum of her efforts to snag a spot on the winners’ podium.

Sydney McLaughlin is walking away with a first-place finish in the Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles after defeating her rival, Dalilah Muhammad, by 0.12 seconds.

McLaughlin finished with a final time of 51.46 seconds. This time bested McLaughlin’s previous world record time by 0.44 seconds. Muhammad came in closely thereafter at 51.58 seconds, and Femke Bol of the Netherlands secured bronze with a time of 52.03 seconds.

Five of the seven top finishers eclipsed their personal records, meaning that the level of competition in the event was at an all-time high.

For a majority of the latter portion of the race, it appeared Muhammad was closing in on securing another gold medal in the event. McLaughlin then performed arguably the best she ever has in the 400-meter hurdles, executing the final leaps and sprints to near perfection.

Muhammad was finally surpassed by McLaughlin after the final hurdle, unable to keep up with the runner’s speed.

“We’re going to see some real rivalry here, and each of them know what they need to work on: Dalilah is going to be pounding the end of that race, and Sydney is going to be trying to get her start speed up,” said Ralph Mann, a consultant for the U.S. Track and Field Association.

Two athletes born and raised in North Carolina – Keni Harrison and Gabi Cunningham – have shined in the Tokyo Olympic Games in track and field. Harrison grew up in Clayton, North Carolina, and Cunningham is from Charlotte.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Harrison snagged a silver medal while Cunningham secured seventh place. They were both bested by Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who represented Puerto Rico and finished with a final time of 12.37 seconds. Harrison narrowly missed out on gold, finishing with a final time of 12.52 seconds. Cunningham wrapped up with a final time of 13.01 seconds.

“It was just so fun coming out here and just getting a medal for my country….. Just to get a silver medal at this stage is amazing,” said Harrison.

Anna Cockrell, also a native of North Carolina, qualified for the Olympic final in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Her qualifying time was fifth-fastest at 54.17 seconds. Cockrell is the sister of Buccaneer’s defensive back Ross Cockrell. The team held a watch party for the defensive back’s sister.

https://twitter.com/Buccaneers/status/1422198283355795463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1422198283355795463%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charlotteobserver.com%2Fsports%2Fspt-columns-blogs%2Fscott-fowler%2Farticle253187273.html

Karsten Warholm bested his own world record in Tokyo, setting an astonishing record of 45.94 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. That time was good enough for both a world record and the gold medal, besting U.S. competitor Rai Benjamin.

Benjamin, ironically, broke the previous world record with a final time of 46.17 seconds, which would seemingly have given him gold. Instead, Warholm’s incredible performance forced Benjamin into second place.

“That was the best race in Olympic history … everyone in this event should be getting paid big bucks, in all honesty,” Benjamin said of the race.

Warholm also discussed the unbelievable performances put on in the race, noting, “The lactic acid is just crazy, I couldn’t feel my legs. I was just running over the line because I didn’t take anything for granted today. All respect to Rai for running 46.17 – that’s just crazy.”

Warholm was being caught by Benjamin as they approached the final hurdle, but he pulled away by mustering an extra bit of strength, good enough for Olympic gold.

“That was my tactic today, I think I won on tactics. I really went out hard and tried to get the guys with me … after that I just ran for my life. I would have died for that gold medal.”

All three runners who medaled are also the fastest 400-meter hurdlers in world history.

“I cried a little bit … but I am really happy to be a part of history like this and just to show where this event can go,” Benjamin discussed after a disappointing second-place finish that was still one of the greatest performances in Olympics history.

Sam Kendricks, a superstar on the pole vault and current Olympian, has tested positive for COVID-19. He will be unable to compete in his events at the Olympics.

As an immediate consequence, all athletes and staff for Australia’s track and field team were isolated until they were all tested and received negative results, as three members of the Australian squad were contact traced to Kendricks.

“We will continue to be very thorough in our observance of the Tokyo playbooks and our own additional measures. We want every Australian athlete to be in a position to have their Olympic moment. We will continue to be vigilant,” said Ian Chesterman, the Australian team’s chief de mission in a statement.

Kendricks is the sixth American in the Tokyo Olympics to test positive for COVID-19. He has been relocated to a hotel where he remains in isolation.

“Sam is an incredible and accomplished member of Team U.S.A. and his presence will be missed. Out of respect for his privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

Kendricks, according to an Instagram post by his father, is feeling perfectly okay and is displaying no symptoms.

Sha’Carri Richardson has failed to make the U.S. Olympic Relay Team, according to the U.S. Track and Field Association. The news comes just days after her 30-day suspension for marijuana use discovered by a test for the substance by the USATF. Notably, the suspension would not have prevented Richardson from participating in the 4×100 relay. Regardless, she was not named to the squad.

Instead, the team will consist of Javianne Oliver, Gabby Thomas, Teahna Daniels and Jenna Pradini.

After the news was announced, Richardson sent out a tweet expressing both sadness and optimism:

Outside of the recent controversy, Richardson is an incredibly talented runner. She ran the 100-meter sprint in 10.86 seconds while at the qualifying races in Oregon. While in Oregon, Richardson consumed the marijuana that led to her suspension. She states that she used the drug after being told her biological mother had passed.

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, marijuana is banned because it “[increases] risk taking, [slows] reaction times and [produces] poor executive function or decision making.”

Richardson had hoped to become the first gold medalist for the U.S. in the 100-meter event since 1996. She would have competed against Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who currently holds the fastest time in the world at 10.63 seconds.

The Tokyo Games begin July 23.

Gwen Barry, an American hammer thrower, felt forced to explain her actions during the national anthem at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials after images were released showing her facing away from the flag. Berry is outspoken about racial injustice and has explained that she feels the moment was a setup. “I was pissed, to be honest,” she said.

“They said they were going to play it before we walked out, then they played it when we were out there,” said Berry. “But I don’t really want to talk about the anthem because that’s not important. The anthem doesn’t speak for me. It never has.”

When the “Star-Spangled Banner” began playing, Berry was receiving her bronze medal. She turned to the direction of the stands and then hoisted a shirt saying “Activist Athlete on it for the conclusion of the song.”

The fans in attendance hardly seemed to notice this occurrence. Criticism did not erupt until images of Berry surfaced standing next to the first and second-place finishers who stood facing the flag with their hand on their heart.

“My purpose and my mission is bigger than sports,” Berry said. “I’m here to represent those… who died due to systemic racism. That’s the important part. That’s why I’m going. That’s why I’m here today.”

Berry has made symbolic protests in the past, notable at the Pan-Am Games in 2019. A spokesperson for USA Track and Field provided a statement on the situation. “The national anthem was scheduled to play at 5:20 p.m. today. We didn’t wait until the athletes were on the podium.”

A lot can change in five years, especially for Sydney McLaughlin. Five years ago in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, McLaughlin was a high-school student trying to prove she belonged, and that couldn’t contrast more from her this past weekend. In one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of this year’s Olympic trials, McLaughlin smashed the world record and slipped past reigning world champion Dalilah Muhammad to win the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.90.

“It’s an honor,” McLaughlin said of breaking the previous mark, set by Muhammad in 2019. “So many amazing women have come before me. So many amazing women will come after me. I just want to be able to leave my mark, and be a part of such an amazing sport.”

To round out Team USA, Muhammad, the reigning world champion in the event finished second (52.42). Anna Cockrell came in third. This success comes off of a decision last summer, as McLaughlin switched coaches and began working with legendary coach Bobby Kersee, whose training group also includes Allyson Felix.

Kersee had McLaughlin compete in the 60-meter hurdles at an indoor meet, then the 100-meter hurdles outdoors, continuing to hone her technique before moving back to her natural distance. “A lot of people didn’t understand, because they didn’t see where it was translating to in our practices for the 400 hurdles,” McLaughlin said. “I kind of knew right away it was making sense. And as time progressed and the strength started to build, it definitely reflected that we could get to this point.”

Last weekend was a crowning moment for McLaughlin, who has gone from high-school prodigy to collegiate All-American to World Championship silver medalist in the span of four years. She was widely regarded as one of the most promising high school track and field athletes ever when she arrived at the 2016 Olympic trials. She qualified for the Olympics when she was just 16, but failed to make the final in Rio. McLaughlin is surely hoping things will be different this time around.

Allyson Felix made her fifth Olympic team, and first as a mother, on Sunday following a dramatic second-place finish in the 400-meter race at the United States Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Felix, who is a 13-time World Champion is back after her first pregnancy. Felix gave birth to her daughter, Camryn, via emergency C-section at 32 weeks in 2018. Camryn spent a month in a neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Felix has spoken openly about the difficulties in her recovery and return to training. It was a difficult journey to come back, something that she had doubts about.

“Man. It has been a fight to get here,” Felix said in an interview on NBC. “And one thing I know how to do is fight.”

On Sunday, she performed well enough to secure herself second place and clinch her fifth trip to the Summer Olympics, and her first as a mother. Quanera Hayes, who is also a mom, won the women’s 400 with a time of 49.78. Felix finished second with a time of 50.02 seconds and Wadeline Jonathas came in third, one-hundredth of a second behind Felix.

The 35-year-old mother will compete individually in Tokyo in the 400-meter race, and she will likely also be part of at least one relay team, either the women’s 4×400 or the mixed-gender 4×400, which is a new event in 2021. The Olympian is also scheduled to run the 200-meter dash at trials next week.

The 35-year-old made her debut in 2004 and has since become one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the sport. She has won nine Olympic medals, including six golds throughout her career. Felix has spoken about her plans to retire before the next Summer Games, which take place in Paris in 2024. The Tokyo Games will be all that much more meaningful since it will be her final Olympic Games. She hopes that her performances will be an inspiration not just to moms, who are athletes, but to all moms who are returning to their jobs after giving birth.

“I think society tells us a lot of times you have a child, and your best moments are behind you. But that’s absolutely not the case,” Felix said. “I’m a representation of that. Quanera is. There’s so many women across industries who are out there, who are doing it and getting it done. And I hope that when they watch and they see me, that they see that it’s possible. And without a doubt, we’re going to keep fighting.”

Olympic athlete Allyson Felix claims that the hardest part for her was finding out that the 2020 Olympics would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When asked about how people have reacted to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) allowing athletes to participate in social justice protests, Allyson Felix claimed that she had not been in communication with other athletes since that decision was made.

Olympic track-and-field athlete, Allyson Felix opens up about her mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown and the challenges she faced when she first found out she would not be going to the Olympics in 2020.

Former Nike runner Mary Cain alleged her coach Alberto Salazar inflicted emotional and physical pain on her in a damning op-ed on Thursday.

In the New York Times video, 23-year-old Cain explains she became trapped in a system that continuously oppresses female athletes’ physical health to the point of forcing them to lose extraordinary amounts of weight.

“I got caught in a system designed by and for men, which destroys the bodies of young girls. Rather than force young girls to fend for themselves, we have to protect them,” Cain said in the piece, titled I Was The Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike. 

Cain — who won a gold medal in the 3000 meter event at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Oregon — also claimed the training Salazar forced on her led to her breaking five bones and to her period stopping for three years as a result of very low estrogen levels. As part of her training, Cain claims, Salazar forced her to take diuretics, which are illegal in track and field.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

“Young girls’ bodies are being ruined by an emotionally and physically abusive system,” Cain added in the video of the “crisis” at Nike and in women’s sports in general.

Cain also noted that Nike’s training staff was comprised only of men and that Salazar and the rest of them pushed her to drop down to a weight of 114 pounds.

Last month, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency banned Salazar — who is known for training medal-winning Olympic athletes like British runner Mo Farah — from athletics and from the Nike Oregon Project for four years due to violations related to tampering with the anti-doping process and attempted trafficking of substances like testosterone. The Nike Oregon Project, which Cain left in 2016, is now shut down.

Nike CEO Mark Parker, who is set to resign in January, said in a statement to Reuters that “unsubstantiated assertions” and the doping scandal involving Salazar led to a “distraction” for athletes that prevented them from being able to concentrate on training and competitions. Thus, he decided to shut down the Nike Oregon Project.

Nike has faced severe backlash from athletes in recent years, from Colin Kaepernick pushing for the apparel giant to cancel the sale of sneakers carrying the Betsy Ross version of the American flag to NBA star Kawhi Leonard suing the company last June for copyright infringement of his “Klaw” logo.

Alberto Salazar was once a successful coach with the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), home to four-time British Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah from 2011 to 2017. This week, 61-year-old Salazar was banned from athletics for four years due to multiple anti-doping violations.

Salazar was sanctioned by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) along with endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown on the grounds of attempted tampering with athletes’ doping control processes and attempted trafficking of testosterone.

“The athletes in these cases found the courage to speak out and ultimately exposed the truth. While acting in connection with the Nike Oregon Project, Mr. Salazar and Dr. Brown demonstrated that winning was more important than the health and well-being of the athletes they were sworn to protect,” said USADA chief executive, Travis Tygart.

When asked about his former coach, Farah stated:

“I’m relieved that USADA has, after four years, completed their investigation into Alberto Salazar. I left the Nike Oregon Project in 2017 but as I’ve always said, I have no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules or crosses a line. A ruling has been made and I’m glad there has finally been a conclusion.”

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Due to this USADA’s ruling, the USA Track and Field Federation has since stripped Salazar of his accreditation for the World Athletics Championships, which are currently underway in Qatar.

Even after the ruling, Salazar insists he is innocent, citing strict adherence to WADA code.

“The Oregon Project has never and will never permit doping,” Salazar’s said in a recent statement. “I will appeal and look forward to this unfair and protracted process reaching the conclusion I know to be true.”

Although Salazar’s appeal is still pending, Farah has still drawn a line between himself and his former coach. The Olympic champion said he is convinced that Salazar crossed a line.

Salazar will await the Performance and Oversight Committee of the USADA’s review of his appeal. For the time being, he will not be allowed in any official team hotel, training zone or any area of Khalifa Stadium that requires accreditation.

Caster Semenya, a South African track and field star who is a two-time Olympic champion, announced Monday that she would seek to legally challenge the sport’s controversial rule on allowed testosterone levels for female athletes.

Olympic Track Star Caster Semenya To Challenge Testosterone Rule

According to the New York Times, the 27-year-old runner has said the rule is medically unnecessary, “discriminatory, irrational, unjustifiable.” The regulation, which was introduced in April, is set to be applied to races ranging from 400 meters to 1 mile starting in November.

SLIDESHOW: 30 Best Sports Instagrams!

Semenya, a three-time world champion, has been asked by sports executives to undergo gender testing — as she was perceived to be intersex — although none of her results have ever been publicly disclosed.

“I don’t like talking about this new rule,” Semenya said in a television interview. “I just want to run naturally, the way I was born. It is not fair that I am told I must change. It is not fair that people question who I am.”

She continued: “I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast.”

Semenya will fight the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field’s governing body, to dispute the rule that attempts to limit female runners with high testosterone levels. The case is set to be heard in a court in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Testosterone is a hormone that raises strength, muscle mass and haemoglobin, which is related to endurance.

The IAAF claimed in a statement Sunday that athletes with sexual development differences could potentially gain a 5-6 percent advantage in competitions compared to athletes with testosterone in the normal range for women, “which is an enormous difference in events where milliseconds count. The effects are most clearly seen in races over distances between 400 meters and one mile,” the statement read.

Per the Times, the new rule would apply to women with testosterone levels of five nanomoles per liter or higher. This could thus affect eligibility requirements for global sports events like the Olympics.

SLIDESHOW: 10 Highest-Paid Athletes

A female athlete who does not wish to reduce her testosterone levels would thus be required to do one of the following: run for distances longer than one mile, compete solely against men, or participate in competitions designed exclusively for intersex athletes.

If they fail to meet any of these requirements, female runners would have to forgo their eligibility to compete in major international competitions.

The IAAF clarified that it would not force intersex athletes to have reproductive surgery, and that it was not accusing these types of athletes of cheating. The organization said the rule was simply only intended “to ensure fair and meaningful competition.”

Three U.S. women made history in Rio on Wednesday night, placing 1-2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles in the first time ever that American women have swept an Olympic track and field event.

U.S. Women Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali, Kristi Castlin Sweep 100M Hurdles In Rio

Brianna Rollins, the 2013 world champion, clocked 12.48 seconds to take gold, while teammates Nia Ali (12.59) and Kristi Castlin (12.61) won silver and bronze, respectively. Great Britain’s Cindy Ofili (12.63) finished fourth.

The U.S. has medaled in five consecutive Olympic Games in the event. The three medals capped off a seven-medal day for U.S. track and field, which also included a 1-2 finish in the long jump.

Tianna Bartoletta, who turns 31 later this month, managed to power past 2012 Olympic gold medalist and USA teammate Brittney Reese in the long jump.

“It was an awesome hour, for sure,” Bartoletta said. She previously won world championships in 2005 and 2015.

It was an extra special day for Rollins, who turned 25 on Thursday (Aug. 18).

“I knew that I got the gold,” Rollins said. “But I just wanted to make sure that my other teammates medaled as well.”

She and her two teammates leaped for joy, holding up the American flag, and then came together for a long embrace.

“We’ve talked about it, but it’s not something that we focused on,” Rollins added. “We just wanted to focus on being our best, and being our best would get us on the podium.”

Earlier in the evening, Elaine Thompson got another sprint double for Jamaica. She blasted out of the blocks and eluded Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers on the 200 meters.

After winning the 100 on Saturday, Thompson now has a double that compatriot Usain Bolt has specialized in. Thompson can make it triple gold during the relay races Thursday and Friday.

She finished in a season-best 21.78 seconds, to beat Schippers by 0.10 seconds. Team USA’s Tori Bowie won bronze with a final time of 22.15.

The back-and-forth between Bartoletta and Reese was captivating. On her fifth of six attempts, Reese, the favorite, leaped a stunning 7.09 meters. Bartoletta responded with a 7.17-meter jump.

“To win that medal after all that time, and still be here and be a more mature athlete, a more serious athlete, more deliberate in my approach to the sport, more businesslike,” Bartoletta said, “it’s really validating for sure.”

Rollins and her teammates, meanwhile, are very close. “It’s like a sisterhood,” she said. They also compete in an event that is so tightly contested in the U.S. that the woman who finished sixth at trials, Kendra Harrison, responded to that disappointment — and resulting failure to make the U.S. team — by setting the world record in the event at a July meet in London.

“It just shows you how strong our event is,” Rollins said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 17: (L-R) Silver medalist Nia Ali, gold medalist Brianna Rollins and bronze medalist Kristi Castlin of the United States pose with American flags after the Women’s 100m Hurdles Final on Day 12 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 17, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia won the triple jump in Rio di Janeiro on Sunday, leaping 15.17 meters (49 feet, 9 ¼ inches) on her fourth attempt, to win her country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics.

Caterine Ibarguen Wins Colombia’s First-Ever Olympic Gold In Track And Field With Triple Jump Win

The 32-year-old, who entered the Rio Games as the heavy favorite for gold, took silver at the London 2012 Olympics.

On Sunday, it was Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas, 20, the reigning indoor world champion, who won silver with her best jump of 14.98.

Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova, the 2012 Olympic winner, finished third with her best personal record of the year with a jump of 14.74 on her fifth attempt.

Ibarguen, who holds a best personal record of 15.31, achieved on July 18, 2014, would have to make a jump that exceeds 15.50 meters in order to break Ukrainian Inessa Kravets’s world record of 15.50m set in 1995.

“It’s the biggest dream to achieve this,” said Ibarguen. “I’m very happy and proud to represent my country. I’m so happy to be the first Colombian to win in the triple jump.”

Her gold medal was Colombia’s second of the Rio 2016 Olympics, after Oscar Figueroa’s weightlifting win. Colombian Yuberjen Martinez won silver in the men’s lightweight boxing early Monday, making these Games the best in the country’s sports history.

Ibarguen soared past 15 meters twice and was in total control after making her fourth-round leap. Rojas also made history by becoming the first Venezuelan woman to win an Olympic athletics medal and the youngest female winner of an Olympic triple jump medal.

“This is very significant for both of us,” said Rojas of her and Ibarguen. “I feel this is a high point for South American athletics and that there will be yet more outstanding results.”

Rojas then went on to praise Ibarguen alone, adding:

“Caterine was a tremendous competitor and I’m very happy for her. I knew it would take a lot of work and effort, but I just had to concentrate on myself. We did everything possible to be here and I’m extremely happy with this new accomplishment. I dedicate this medal to the people of Venezuela.”

American Keturah Orji, 20, a student-athlete for the University of Georgia, finished fourth. Her best mark, 14.71m (48-3¼), broke the American record.

The men’s triple jump will begin Monday morning. American Christian Taylor is the defending Olympic champion.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 14: Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia celebates placing first in the Women’s Triple Jump final on Day 9 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 14, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Usain Bolt has proven again that he is the world’s fastest runner.

Usain Bolt Wins Third Straight 100M Olympic Gold, USA’s Justin Gatlin Finishes Second

The Jamaican track and field sprinter became the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic 100-meter titles after taking gold in the event in Rio Sunday night.

Bolt, who will turn 30 later this month, ran 9.81 seconds in his final Olympics to finish first, just as he did at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games.

American Justin Gatlin, twice banned for doping violations, won silver with a time of 9.89, while Canada’s Andre de Grasse took bronze after finishing with a personal best time of 9.91. Bolt’s Jamaican teammate, Yohan Blake, finished fourth. Team USA’s Trayvon Bromell finished last (eighth) with a time of 10.06. 

“Somebody said I can become immortal,” said Bolt, who finished off the race by doing his signature ‘lightning bolt’ pose, with arms bent and pointing diagonally skywards in the same direction. “Two more medals to go and I can sign off. Immortal.”

The Jamaican also took selfies with several fans at the Olympic Stadium.

Bolt remains prepared to leave Rio with a third straight Olympic treble, after winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles in 2008 and 2012.

“It wasn’t perfect today, but I got it done and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved,” he said. “Nobody else has done it or even attempted it.

“I expected to go faster, but I’m happy that I won. I did what I had to.”

At the start of the sprint, Bolt trailed 34-year-old Gatlin, who was seeking to regain the title he won in Athens in 2004.

However, the Jamaican surged through from 60 meters to overtake Gatlin and win his seventh Olympic gold by a comfortable margin.

Both before and after race, Bolt was treated to loud cheers from the crowd, who also chanted his name.

“It wasn’t about the time, it was just about winning the gold and going out on top,” said Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic champion.

Bolt stated in February that he would retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships. He competes in qualifying for the men’s 200m on Tuesday, with the 4x100m relay beginning on Friday.

The world record holder at 100m and 200m reminded the Rio crowd how speedy he was by clocking a season’s best 9.86 in his semifinal.

“After the semi-final, I felt extremely good,” Bolt added.

“I wanted to run faster but with the turnaround time – we normally have two hours but we had one hour 20 minutes – it was challenging. This is what we train for. I told you guys I was going to do it. Stay tuned. Two more to go.”

Twitter immediately blew up with comments on Bolt’s performance, with sports stars like LeBron James and former world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis weighing in:

Contrarily to Bolt’s warm reception, Gatlin entered the stadium to the sound of boos, but he didn’t appear bothered.

The American’s first drugs ban in 2001 was reduced from two years to one after he proved the amphetamines he was taking were for an attention deficit disorder.

He then tested positive for testosterone in 2006, one year after capturing the 100m and 200m double at the World Championships. Gatlin served a four-year ban that was reduced twice, first from a lifetime then to eight years.

He returned to the track in 2010, winning Olympic bronze at London 2012 and losing to Bolt in the 2015 World Championships.

Bolt injured a hamstring at the end of June, while Gatlin had recorded the fastest time of the year in July, clocking 9.80.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 14: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates winning the Men’s 100m Final on Day 9 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 14, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)