In London, Usain Bolt kept the Olympic 100m title he had won four years earlier. He crossed the line in 9.63, an Olympic record. No man had held the crown since Carl Lewis.
A second Olympic 100m, and a quicker one
The final drew the fastest men of the era onto the London track. Bolt came out of the blocks and pulled clear through the closing metres. His time lowered his own Olympic record and settled the race before the line.
The 9.63 sat just outside his world mark. It confirmed that his first Olympic title had been no accident. On sport's biggest stage, he did it a second time.
The night belonged to the last strides, where he opened the gap and drew away. The record fell as he ran, not after. It was the sort of race that ends the argument early.
One defence that began a run of them
The 100m opened a London programme that grew by the day. Two nights later Bolt defended his 200m title as well. On 11 August he anchored Jamaica to relay gold in 36.84, a world record that still stands.
The win belonged to a longer arc. It began with his 9.58 in Berlin in 2009, still the world record, and reached forward to Beijing and Moscow, where he gathered world titles by the handful.
That arc closed at Rio in 2016, where an eighth Olympic gold came in his last race. London stood near its centre. It was the night Usain Bolt proved a champion could stay one.
