US, Jamaica take spoils as Bolt continues march to immortality

It was a night to savor for both the United States and Jamaica at Rio's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday as Usain Bolt edged closer to his dream of self-proclaimed immortality.

American Brianna Rollins won the women's 100m hurdles title just minutes after her compatriot Tianna Bartoletta triumphed in the long jump.

Elaine Thompson and Usain Bolt continued Jamaica's sprint dominance, with the former grabbing the women's 200m gold and the latter qualifying fastest for the men's final over the same distance.

There was disappointment, however, for Bolt's American rival Justin Gatlin, who failed to qualify for the 200m final.

Earlier, Kenya's Conseslus Kipruto set an Olympic record to win the men's 3000m steeplechase gold in stifling conditions.

Rollins, who turns 25 on Thursday, gave herself the perfect birthday present as the USA made it a clean sweep of the medals in the women's 100m hurdles.

She crossed the line in 12.48 seconds, 11 hundredths of a second ahead of Nia Ali with Kristi Castlin pocketing bronze in 12.61.

Britain's Cindy Ofili was fourth in 12.63 and Germany's Cindy Roleder fifth in 12.74.

Thompson's 200m gold was her second victory at the Rio Games after her success in the 100m final on Saturday.

The 24-year-old crossed the line in a season's best 21.78 seconds, a tenth of a second ahead of world champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands.

Tori Bowie of the US claimed bronze in 22.15 to go along with her 100m silver here.

Bartoletta leapt a personal best 7.17 meters to beat defending champion Brittney Reese of the United States by just 2cm.

It was the 30-year-old's second Olympic gold medal following her triumph with USA's 4x100m relay team in London four years ago.

Serbia's Ivana Spanovic, who led Wednesday's final two rounds remaining, took bronze with a national record 7.08m.

Germany's Malaika Mihambo was fourth with a personal best leap of 6.95m while Nigeria's Ese Brume was fifth with 6.81m.

Not surprisingly, the biggest cheer of the night was for seven-time Olympic champion Bolt as he continues his quest for a third straight Olympic gold medal in the event.

The 29-year-old clocked 19.78 seconds, his best time of the year, to edge out Canadian Andre de Grasse by two hundredths of a second.

The pair appeared to leave plenty in reserve as they smiled at each other while crossing the finish line in their second semifinal.

Lashawn Merritt of the United States was third fastest, winning the first semifinal in 19.94.

Merritt's teammate Gatlin - expected to be Bolt's main gold medal rival in the event - was eliminated with a time of 20.13.

On Sunday Bolt became the first man to win three straight Olympic 100m titles by beating Gatlin by eight hundredths of a second, with De Grasse taking bronze.

Bolt is hoping to achieve an unprecedented triple-triple here: three successive Olympic gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Earlier this week Bolt said the feat would make him "immortal".

In Wednesday's morning session, Kipruto finished the 3000m steeplechase final in 8:03.28 seconds, shaving more than two seconds off the previous Olympic record set by his countryman Julius Kariuki in 1988.

The USA's Evan Jager took silver in 8:04.28 and France's Mahiedine Mekhissi claimed bronze in 8:11.52.

Kenya's dual Olympic gold medallist Ezekiel Kemboi originally finished third but was later disqualified for running off the track.

Kipruto's victory gave Kenya their fourth gold medal of these Games. Endit