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WATCH: Usain Bolt limps out with cramp in final race of his career at IAAF World Championships
And just when it seemed Bolt was catching up the hosts, he limped down the track as he had pulled a cramp on his left hamstring, sat down agonising in pain as Great Britain roared away with the gold. The USA finished second, followed by Japan. Bolt sat there, tears rolled down his eyes as his teammates ran to console him.
New Delhi: Heartbreak! A complete moment of heartbreak! Usain Bolt was all set to run the final race of his career – the 4x100 meters relay. But no one would have anticipated, not even in their wildest dreams that the greatest sprinter of all time would see such an end to his illustrious career. He pulled a cramp on his left hamstring as Jamaica Did Not Finish the race.
It was 9:50 into the night. London crowd waited with much anticipation for Bolt's final race of his career. Bang! Went the gun shot as the sprinters soared off their starting blocks. Great Britain took off with real pace, the Japanese followed behind. But the Jamaicans were slowly catching up. Yohan Blake blazed away to pass the baton to his final teammate, Bolt.
Great Britain was still leading then, followed by the Americans and the Jamaican team. Bolt clutched onto the baton and took off. Another sluggish start, but made an effort to tune up his speed. And just when it seemed he was catching up the hosts, he limped down the track as he had pulled a cramp on his left hamstring, sat down agonising in pain as Great Britain roared away with the gold. The team USA finished second, followed by Japan. Bolt sat there, tears rolled down his eyes as his teammates ran to console him.
Two moments of history at one time. Great Britain won their first 4x100m relay gold at World Athletics Championships. Silver twice, but gold for first time. The last time they had grabbed the top podium was in Olympics 2004 at Athens when they breezed past the then great Maurice Greene by one-hundreth of a second. Also, this was Jamaica's first defeat in this event since their shot to dominance in 2008. Not only did they miss out on their gold medal, but they failed to finish the race.
The section where Bolt limped out...
Watch the entire video here...
Just one hundred meteres of space and now it has been inked in the pages of history. For Great Britain it was a moment to be applauded, to be cheered and for Bolt it was just consolation. But the crowd did salute as the Greatest Sprinter of all time waved with still tears running down his eyes, for one last time.