Bolt sprints to Olympic gold
August 6, 2012 -- Updated 0205 GMT (1005 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- "It means one step towards being a legend," Bolt says of his win
- Usain Bolt is the first sprinter since Carl Lewis to defend an Olympic 100-meter title
- Andy Murray routs Roger Federer for tennis gold, redemption
- U.S. vault champ errs, wins silver
Bolt, who became a
household name with his gold medal win in the 2008 Beijing Games, is the
first sprinter since U.S. Olympic legend Carl Lewis to defend an
Olympic 100-meter title.
He overcame an unimpressive start to blow past the competition.
"My start wasn't too good
but my coach always said to me I'm not a good starter, it's not worth
worrying about," Bolt said after the race.
Big day for UK at Olympics
Yohan Blake, also of
Jamaica, took the silver medal while Justin Gatlin of the United States
won bronze. Both set new personal bests with 9.75 and 9.79 seconds,
respectively.
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Despite his impressive win, Bolt was looking ahead to his next race.
History ahead for the Summer Games
"It means one step
towards being a legend, so I'm happy with myself, but it's only one
step, I have the 200 meters to go," he said.
History ahead for the Summer Games
On the woman's side,
Sanya Richards-Ross of the United States won the gold medal in the
400-meter dash. Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain took the silver and
DeeDee Trotter of the United States won bronze.
Also on the track,
double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who runs on special carbon
fiber blades and is nicknamed The Blade Runner, failed to make the final
in the men's individual 400-meter race. He came in nearly two seconds
behind the leader in his semifinal heat.
Pistorius is the first
person to compete in the able-bodied Olympics using prosthetic legs, and
he will also compete in the Paralympics later this summer.
Earlier Sunday, Andy Murray cruised to a gold medal in the men's singles tennis final, beating Roger Federer in straight sets.
Three times prior,
Murray had played Federer in an important final, and three times he had
failed. In front of an enthusiastic home crowd, Murray flipped the
script on the world's top-ranked player.
"I've had a lot of tough
losses in my career, this is the best way to come back from the
Wimbledon final," he told a BBC interviewer. "I was a little tired after
Wimbledon, but I felt fresh on the court today."
First British athletes to win gold
Murray said he had
expected a tough match from Federer, who just four weeks ago beat Murray
for his seventh Wimbledon title on Centre Court, also the site of the
Olympic final.
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But after winning the
first set 6-2, he broke Federer to take a 2-0 lead. He grew in
confidence at that point, he said, and the rout was on.
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He lost only five more
games in the three-set match against the man who has won three of his 17
Grand Slam titles by beating Murray.
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Just hours after his
win, the Brit added to his medal count by taking silver in mixed doubles
alongside Laura Robson. The pair narrowly lost to Belarus' Max Mirnyi
and Victoria Azarenka, 2-6, 6-3 , 10-8.
Also on Sunday, at the
North Greenwich Arena where the gymnastics competition is being held,
there was a stunning result in the women's vault.
After her first attempt,
world champion McKayla Maroney looked like a sure gold medal winner.
But her second vault turned into heartbreak as she did something she
rarely does.
She came up short on her landing and fell.
"I'm really disappointed
with myself," she said. "I fell on the second vault, and I don't think
I've ever even fallen in warmup here at all. It's a big shock, and it's
really sad."
Maroney, who had nailed her first effort and scored 15.866, received only a 14.300 on her second.
"I was praying there was
still a chance, but I didn't make my vault,' she said, "and a gold
medal vaulter doesn't deserve to fall."
She tried to look on the bright side.
"All I can look forward
to is the next competition coming up, and I just have to accept that I
have a silver medal and that's not too bad," she said.
Romania's Sandra Izbasa won the gold with a two-vault average of 15.191.
In the women's marathon,
Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia won the gold in 2:23.07. Priscah Jeptoo of
Kenya was the silver medalist, and Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova of Russia
was third. The race kicked off under a heavy downpour as the runners
snaked around wet London streets.
"It was a great race. I
really loved it. The rain makes it very interesting," Gelana said. "I
love running in the rain, I have been doing that since I was a small
child. I slipped in the middle of the race, and my elbow is still
injured. But I didn't feel any pain during the race."
Women's boxing made its Olympic debut Sunday with a round of 16 matches in each of the three weight divisions.
Overall, China leads the
gold medal count with 30 and the total medal count with 61. The United
States trails with 28 gold and 60 total.
One of China's golds came Sunday in the men's badminton singles final when Lin Dan beat Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei.
Lin won the same event in Beijing in 2008, also over Lee.
"This gold again
confirmed my hard work over the years, because I knew to get this again
I'd have to work even harder," Lin said. "I had to sacrifice quite a lot
after (Beijing) 2008 because I want to retain the title. A lot of good
athletes want to have this medal. Today it's a positive for me, for my
efforts and for my sacrifice."
CNN's David Ariosto and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.
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