Bolt makes history as Farah clinches distance double

Having become the first ever athlete to have successfully defended 100 and 200m titles at the Olympics,Bolt made short work of American Ryan Bailey on the final leg,hurtling across the line with a flourish.

The Jamaican quartet of Nesta Carter,Michael Frater,double Olympic sprint silver medallist Yohan Blake and Bolt scorched to 36.84sec,beating their previous record of 37.04sec set in the 2011 worlds in Daegu.

The US team took silver and Trinidad and Tobago bronze.

Bolt has now won seven titles in the eight individual events in which he has competed since the 2008 Beijing Games,his one blip coming when he was disqualified for a false start in the 100m final in the 2011 Daegu worlds.

The world record holder in both the 100 and 200m was also part of the Jamaican relay team that won all four golds on offer in that time.

“It’s always a beautiful thing to end on this note,” said Bolt. “Last year we did it at the world championships,this year we did it again so for me it’s a wonderful feeling to end on a high note. It was a great championships,I’m happy.”

The scene was set for Bolt’s fairytale ending to Games by a stunning performance in the men’s 5,000m by Farah,who added that title to the 10,000m he won seven days earlier.

The Somalia-born runner timed his kick to perfection to cross in 13min 41.66,fighting off Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebreskel,who took silver in 13:41.98,and Kenya’s Thomas Longosiwa,who claimed bronze (13:42.36).