Published : Sept. 8, 2013 - 19:57
Usain Bolt celebrates his win in the men’s 100 meters. (AP-Yonhap News)
BRUSSELS (AP) ― Usain Bolt closed out the season with another win in the 100 meters, finishing in 9.80 seconds in the Memorial Van Damme.
The time, sluggish by his stellar, world-record standards, confirmed what Bolt himself acknowledges: 2013 hasn’t been a vintage year for the world and Olympic champion.
The 27-year-old Jamaican said he is now looking forward to some rest and recreation, family time and soccer matches with friends, before deciding on his goals for 2014, a season with no major championships.
“I’ve been smiling ever since I got to the stadium, because I know it’s the last one,” Bolt said about his final race of the year.
This year, Bolt’s fastest time was 9.77, which he ran in winning the world championships in August.
That was still the Jamaican’s slowest season best-time since 2010, when his fastest was 9.82.
Over 200 meters, Bolt’s best was 19.66, again when collecting gold in Moscow. That makes 2013 his slowest season over that distance since 2007, when his best time was 19.75.
Still, with three golds from Moscow, including a 400 relay win with Jamaica, 2013 still goes down as the year he became the most decorated athlete in world championship history with a total now of eight gold and two silvers.
He also has six gold medals from the Olympics.