Jamaica sweeps 6 sprint events with relay golds
By RAF CASERT, Associated Press
Aug 18, 2013 10:20 AM CDT
Jamaica's Usain Bolt celebrates winning his third gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)   (Associated Press)

Usain Bolt is perfect again.

And with three gold medals in Moscow, the Jamaican great became the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the world championships.

The 4x100-meter relay gold Sunday erased the memories of the 100 title he missed out on in South Korea two years ago because of a false start. And, combined with an identical 100-200-relay triple from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Bolt was instrumental in giving Jamaica the first sweep of the six sprint events.

Bolt was still trailing Justin Gatlin when he got the baton on the anchor leg, but a botched U.S. handover and his superior speed were enough to carry him, and Jamaica, to victory.

He gritted his teeth, dipped at the line, and then grinned with relief.

"I am very satisfied," Bolt said.

Bolt had already won the 100 and 200 meters. It was his second such sprint triple at the world championships, matching the two he has achieved at the Olympics.

With his victory, Bolt moved to the top of the all-time world championships medals table with eight gold and two silver, edging Carl Lewis, who has eight gold, one silver and one bronze.

And again Luzhniki Stadium and its 40,000 fans turned into a Bolt party.

With palpable relief after a week of an all-business demeanor during his earlier races, Bolt finally let go. His arms across his chest, he kicked his legs as he went down lower and lower to imitate a traditional eastern European dance to the delight of the crowd.

"A lot of energy here today," Bolt said.

He threw he shoes into the stands and struck his "Lightning Bolt" pose again, knowing he finally could escape the stress as Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" blared.

Twenty minutes earlier, Fraser-Pryce became the first woman in world championship history to sweep the sprint events, anchoring Jamaica to gold in the 4x100-meter relay.

Unlike Bolt, Fraser-Pryce got the baton with a big lead. With her pink hair extensions swaying in the air behind her, she kept on building her advantage to cross in a championship record of 41.29 seconds.

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