LONDON — Usain Bolt and Ryan Bailey got the baton at almost exactly the same time Saturday night, then sped down the stretch for the final leg of the 4×100-meter relay.
LONDON — Usain Bolt and Ryan Bailey got the baton at almost exactly the same time Saturday night, then sped down the stretch for the final leg of the 4×100-meter relay.
When Bolt reached his top gear, it was over.
The World’s Fastest Man powered Jamaica to a world-record time of 36.84 seconds, making him 3 for 3 for the second straight Olympics. He also won the 100 meters and 200 in London and Beijing.
Bolt picked up another victory long after the record-breaking relay was over. After grudgingly handing the baton to an official right after he crossed the finish line, he got it back about 40 minutes later. He responded with a bow of thanks and kissed his new memento.
Bailey and the United States got the silver in 37.04, matching the old record that Bolt helped set at last year’s world championships. Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze in 38.12 after Canada, which was third across the line, was disqualified for running outside its lane.
Before Bolt and Co. took over the track, Mo Farah sent a charge through the capacity crowd at Olympic Stadium when he won the 5,000 meters to complete an Olympic long-distance double for Britain.
Farah surged ahead late and held on to win in 13:41.66. He still had the energy to do a few playful sit-ups on the track before he grabbed a British flag for the real celebration.
Allyson Felix won her third gold medal as the Americans rolled to an easy victory in the women’s 4×400 relay, and Russia capped a big day with wins by Mariya Savinova in the women’s 800 meters and Anna Chicherova in the women’s high jump — giving the traditional Olympic power six golds on the penultimate day of the games.
Caster Semenya of South Africa was right behind Savinova to earn a silver medal in her first Olympic final three years after being forced to undergo gender tests.
The U.S. women’s basketball team entered the London Games with considerable expectations, and it lived up to the hype by winning its fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
Candace Parker scored 21 points as the Americans beat France 86-50 in the final. She had eight straight during the game-changing run in the second quarter that put the U.S. in control.
“It’s not easy to just be put together and be expected to win a gold medal,” guard Diana Taurasi said. “It’s a special feeling.”
Team USA clinched the top spot in the medals table for the fifth consecutive Summer Games, helped by David Boudia’s victory in the men’s 10-meter platform for the country’s first gold in diving since 2000.
Boudia scored 568.65 points in the six-dive final, edging Qiu Bo of China by 1.8 points. Tom Daley of Britain settled for the bronze.
Mexico earned its first Olympic gold medal in men’s soccer and left Brazil wondering if it will ever be able to add the title to its long list of triumphs.
Oribe Peralta scored 29 seconds into the final at Wembley Stadium and added another goal in the second half, leading Mexico to the 2-1 upset.
Hulk scored for Brazil in injury time, but Oscar missed a header in the final seconds to waste the last chance for a comeback in front of 86,162 fans.
“Mexico will be celebrating on the streets,” coach Luis Fernando Tena said. “It is a great honor for a coach to see his players singing the national anthem with gold medals around their necks. It’s a very important moment for Mexican football. It’s a great moment for us.”
The U.S. men’s basketball team will play Spain for the Olympic title today, and Mike Krzyzewski told The Associated Press it will be his final game as the national coach.
When asked if he was sure, Krzyzewski didn’t hesitate before again saying, “yes,” this will be his last game.
With a win, Krzyzewski would join Henry Iba (1964, 1968) as the only U.S. coach to lead the Americans to gold medals in consecutive Olympics.
The rest of the Olympic action Saturday:
VOLLEYBALL
Jaqueline Carvalho had 18 points and Brazil beat the United States in four sets to stop the Americans from winning their first Olympic gold medal in women’s volleyball.
Brazil became the third team to repeat as gold medalist. The Soviet Union won in 1968 and 1972, while Cuba won three straight starting with the 1992 Barcelona Games.
American star Destinee Hooker was held to 14 points.
Castro and Claudino celebrated the victory by leaping into the official’s chair, and Brazil’s coaches rushed to pile on the other players. Later, the Brazilians danced into the medal ceremony.
BOXING
Bantamweight Luke Campbell won Britain’s first Olympic boxing gold medal in his division since 1908, dramatically knocking down rival John Joe Nevin of Ireland midway through the third round of a 14-11 victory.
China’s Zou Shiming, light welterweight Roniel Iglesias, middleweight Ryota Murata and Ukrainian heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk also won their divisions.
Shiming defended his light flyweight gold medal from Beijing with a 13-10 victory over Thailand’s Kaeo Pongprayoon, who angrily protested the result.
Iglesias beat Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk 22-15 for Cuba’s first boxing gold in London after failing to win gold in Beijing.
Murata narrowly won the second boxing gold in Japan’s Olympic history, beating Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao 14-13 on the strength of a two-point holding penalty against Falcao in the final round.
Usyk capped the night with a 14-11 gold-medal victory over Clemente Russo of Italy, celebrating with a nimble Cossack dance in the center of the ring.
SAILING
Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega and Sofia Toro of Spain won the Olympic gold medal in women’s match racing, thanks in part to a boat-handling error by Australia that swept its skipper into the water.
With the best-of-five match tied at one, the boats were sailing nearly side-by-side downwind in the third race in big waves on Weymouth Bay when the Australian crew lost control and its boat rolled on its side. Skipper Olivia Price was swept out of the back of the boat and her crew had to pick her up before continuing.
Spain won that race by 1 minute, 1 second, but the 20-year-old Price and her crew won the fourth race to force a deciding match.
In another mistake, Price was assessed a penalty in Race 5 for a right-of-way violation and Spain sailed ahead to win the gold, leaving the Aussies with the silver.
CANOE SPRINT
Britain’s Ed McKeever won the men’s 200-meter kayak sprint in its Olympic debut, living up to his billing as “Usain Bolt on Water.”
McKeever powered his way to victory in 36.246 seconds in front of British Prime Minister David Cameron and his family. Spain’s Saul Craviotto Rivero was second and Canada’s Mark de Jonge beat France’s Maxim Beaumont to bronze by three-hundreths of a second.
Ukraine’s Yuri Cheban (men’s singles 200-meter canoe sprint) and New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington (women’s singles 200-meter kayak sprint) also won gold. Yury Postrigay and Alexander Dyachenko of Russia took the men’s 200 kayak sprint.
CYCLING – MOUNTAIN BIKE
Julie Bresset picked up the victory at her first Olympics, rolling through the English countryside and waving the French flag as she finished.
Bresset dominated the picturesque course at Hadleigh Farm. She took advantage of a mistake by defending gold medalist Sabine Spitz of Germany to build a massive lead, then rolled through the last of six laps all alone.
The 23-year-old Bresset started blowing kisses to cheering fans on the final straight. Spitz wound up with the silver medal, and Georgia Gould of the United States claimed bronze.
It was only the second Olympic medal in mountain biking for the Americans, who are credited with developing the sport in the 1970s. Susan DeMattei captured bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
GYMNASTICS – RHYTHMIC
Evgeniya Kanaeva became the first rhythmic gymnast to win two Olympic all-around titles, defending her gold medal from Beijing.
Russia has captured the last four Olympic individual titles. It also has a chance for another four-peat in today’s group event, too.
Kanaeva posted the highest score in three of the four events and finished with 116.90 points. That was more than two points ahead of teammate Daria Dmitrieva. Liubou Charkashnya of Belarus won the bronze medal.
WRESTLING – FREESTYLE
Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan won his third straight Olympic wrestling gold in the men’s 120-kilogram division, beating Georgia’s Davit Modzmanashvili in the final.
Taymazov joins Alexander Medved of the former Soviet Union and Russian great Alexander Karelin as the only male wrestlers to win gold medals in three straight games.
Azerbaijan won two titles, with Sharif Sharifov grabbing the gold in men’s 84-kg freestyle and Toghrul Asgarov taking the men’s 60-kg freestyle.
American Coleman Scott won a bronze medal in the 60-kg competition.
ELSEWHERE IN LONDON
Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago won the men’s javelin. … Norway retained its Olympic title in women’s team handball by beating Montenegro 26-23. … Germany defeated the Netherlands 2-1 to win its second straight men’s field hockey title and spoil a bid for a Dutch double in the sport. … Russia collected two gold medals in race-walk events, with Elena Lashmanova winning the women’s 20-kilometer and Sergei Kirdyapkin taking the men’s 50k. Lashmanova broke the world record with a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes, 2 seconds. … David Svoboda of the Czech Republic won the men’s modern pentathlon. … Taekwondo golds went to Italy’s Carlo Molfetta (men’s plus 80-kilogram) and Serbia’s Milica Mandic (women’s plus 67-kg). It was Serbia’s first gold of the games.