Usain Bolt won his third gold medal of the Rio Olympics on Friday night, coming in first with his Jamaican teammates in the 4x100-meter relay.
The Jamaican sprinters finished the single lap with a time of 37.27 seconds, beating out Japan, which took silver with 37.60 seconds. Canada took bronze with 37.64 seconds, after the U.S. was disqualified due to a late baton exchange. The American team filed an appeal over the decision.
The sprint, which was the final track event of the night, was a tight race until Bolt took the handoff from teammate Nickel Ashmeade. Bolt, described by some as “the fastest man in the world” separated himself from the pack of other runners striving toward the finish line.
Watch Bolt’s leg of the 4x100-meter race below:
For Bolt, 29, it was the ninth gold medal of his Olympic career. The legendary runner, who has announced that he will retire from the sport next year, completed his third Olympics having never lost a final in three different track events.
Bolt won the individual 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and the 4x100-meter relay at the games in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 before attaining perfect results this summer.
The win elevated Bolt’s place in Olympic history. He joined American Carl Lewis and Finland’s Paavo Nurmi as the only track-and-field athletes with nine gold medals, according to The Washington Post.
After the race, Bolt thanked his fans on Twitter.
Running with Bolt were Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade. As usual, Bolt anchored the team, running the final leg after the baton handoff.
The Jamaicans failed to break the world record set by Bolt and a different set of teammates at the 2012 games when they ran in 36.84 seconds.
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