Delays blamed for Bolt’s big fall in final race
LONG delays before the running of the 4x100m relay have been blamed for Usain Bolt’s dramatic fall in his final race.
The world’s fastest man tweaked his hamstring halfway down the home straight and spectacularly crashed to the track as he ran the final leg of the relay for Jamaica.
Bolt and his teammates had been forced to wait for more than 40 minutes before the race with the eight-time Olympic champion voicing his concerns about the situation.
“They were holding us too long in the call room,” Bolt’s teammate Yohan Blake said.
“Usain was really cold. In fact Usain said to me: ‘Yohan, I think this is crazy. Forty minutes and two medal presentations before our run.’
“We keep warming up and waiting, then warming up and waiting. Then we saw a true legend, a true champion go out there and struggling like that.”
Omar McLeod, who led off the Jamaican team, said: “It was ridiculous. We were there around 45 minutes waiting outside, I think they had three medal ceremonies before we went out so we were really trying our hardest to stay warm and keep upbeat.
“We waited a really long time. It’s really heart-wrenching. I couldn’t believe it, I’m in shock, utter disbelief.”
Bolt lay on the track for several minutes as medical staff rushed to him. They even brought out a wheelchair but he waved it off and then hobbled across the finish line clapping to the crowd. He was later diagnosed as having a cramp in his left hamstring.
Bolt’s farewell hasn’t gone according to plan after he was surprisingly beaten in the 100m final which was the last individual race of his career.
Great Britain scored an upset victory in the 4x100m relay final over the United States.