LONDON — When the stakes are the biggest, the spotlight most bright, Usain Bolt is as good as gold.
Good as there's ever been.
Putting the field far enough behind that he could slow up over the last few strides and put his left index finger to his mouth to tell any critics to shush, Bolt won the 200 meters in 19.32 seconds Thursday night, making him the only man with two Olympic titles in that event.
"That was for all that people that doubted me, all the people that was talking all kinds of stuff that I wasn't going to do it, I was going to be beaten," Bolt said of his "Shhhhhh" gesture at the finish. "I was just telling them: You can stop talking now, because I am a legend."
He added the 200 gold to the 100 gold he won Sunday, duplicating the 100-200 double he produced at the Beijing Games four years ago. The only difference? In 2008, Bolt broke world records in both.
"I've done something that no one has done before, which is defend my double title. Back-to-back for me," Bolt said. "I would say I'm the greatest."
This time in the 200, Bolt led a Jamaican sweep, with his training partner and pal Yohan Blake getting the silver in 19.44, and Warren Weir taking the bronze in 19.84. That was more than a half-second slower than the champion, a man Weir called "my bigger brother."
"The guy is just on another planet right now," Wallace Spearmon, the American who finished fourth in 19.90, said between sobs of disappointment.
Afterward, Bolt had plenty of energy left, dropping to the track to do five pushups — one for each of his Olympic gold medals so far. Ever the showman, he bent down and kissed the track, then did it again a few minutes later, and also grabbed a camera from someone in the photographers' well and trained it at the group clicking away.
Bolt's stated goal heading to London was to become a "living legend," and, well, he's making a pretty good case for himself, even if International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said a few hours before the 200 final that it's too early to make such determinations.
"The career of Usain Bolt has to be judged when the career stops," said Rogge, who criticized the Jamaican four years ago for showboating by slapping himself on the chest at the finish of the 100.
"Let him participate in three, four games, and he can be a legend," Rogge added. "Already he's an icon."
Track and field
Not to be outdone, the American men took the top two spots in the men's decathlon (Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee) and triple jump (Christian Taylor and Will Claye), raising the U.S. track and field total with three days to go to 24 medals.
The other big winner Thursday night was Kenya's David Rudisha, who set a world record while winning the 800 meters in 1:40.91.
Among the track finals on tap for today is the men's 4x400-meter relay, which took on added intrigue with Oscar Pistorius and South Africa making the field and a gutsy preliminary performance by Manteo Mitchell of the U.S.
The man known as "Blade Runner" because of his carbon-fiber prosthetics will get a chance to run for an Olympic medal after officials accepted South Africa's protest over a collision and awarded an extra spot in the final. Pistorius already is the first amputee to compete on a Summer Games track.
Mitchell was halfway through the opening lap of the relay heat when he felt something pop in his left leg. He managed to keep going and helped the Americans tie for first with the Bahamas in 2:58.87.
A few hours later, doctors told him he had a broken leg.
"I heard it and I felt it," Mitchell said. "But I figured it's what almost any person would've done in that situation."
American teenager Claressa Shields danced, brawled and even stuck out her tongue. She also managed to win the first middleweight gold medal in women's Olympic boxing.
The 17-year-old Shields, from Flint, Mich., was too much for Russian opponent Nadezda Torlopova, posting a 19-12 victory in the final.
"This was something I wanted for a long time, even when boxing wasn't going all right, even when my life wasn't going all right," said Shields, who found sanctuary in a boxing gym during a rough childhood.
"All I wanted was a gold medal, and I kept working towards it, even when people were saying I couldn't do it. I'm too young. I couldn't do it. There were girls who were going to beat me because of better experience, more experience. I proved them all wrong."
Women's water polo
Maggie Steffens scored five times and the U.S. women's water polo team beat Spain 8-5 to take the Olympic tournament for the first time.
The American volleyball squad beat South Korea in straight sets and will go for its first indoor women's gold when it faces Brazil on Saturday in a rematch of the 2008 final.
Eva Risztov of Hungary led most of the way in a grueling open water marathon at Hyde Park, holding off a desperate bid to chase her down by American Haley Anderson.
The big crowd was hoping for a gold medal from world champion Keri-anne Payne, but the British swimmer finished fourth.
Risztov beat Anderson by four-tenths of a second after nearly two hours of racing around The Serpentine. The winner climbed out of the water, smiling and looking fresh. She even flexed for the big crowd.
Risztov retired from swimming after the 2004 Olympics, upset with her results and tired of the pool. She eventually decided to give open water a try, and it sure worked out in a big way.
Martina Grimaldi of Italy got the bronze in the 10-kilometer race.
Defending champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia eased into the semifinals after escaping an avalanche of crashes at the London Velopark.
Strombergs was among eight riders who advanced after three qualifying runs. World champion Sam Willoughby of Australia had to complete two more runs before sealing his own spot in the semis.
There were more than 20 crashes throughout the day. The London Olympic course, with its big jumps and tight corners, has proved to be one of the most difficult in the world.
Time trial world champion Connor Fields of the United States was unbeaten after three runs and also qualified directly for the next round.
Chen Ruolin of China won the women's 10-meter platform gold, easily defending her title from Beijing.
Chen totaled 422.30 points during the five-dive final, winning by a 55.80-point margin. She earlier won gold in the 10-meter synchronized and swept the platform events for the second consecutive games.
China has won six of seven diving gold medals with only the men's platform remaining.
Brittany Broben, a 16-year-old from Australia competing in her first Olympics, took the silver at 366.50. Pandelela Pamg of Malaysia was third.
The quartet of Tate Smith, Dave Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear gave Australia a lift with a surprising wire-to-wire win in the men's 1,000-meter K-4.
It was Australia's first team gold in canoe sprint — and took its overall tally in London to six after wins by cyclist Anna Meares, 100-meter hurdler Sally Pearson and sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in the past three days.
Daria Dmitrieva upstaged fellow Russian Evgeniya Kanaeva, taking advantage of the defending Olympic champion's mistake in her hoop routine to top the standings halfway through individual qualifying.
With 57.80 points, Dmitrieva is 0.175 points ahead of Kanaeva going into today's qualifying session with the ribbon and clubs. Liubou Charkashnya of Belarus was third.
Germany's Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann beat reigning world champions Alison and Emanuel of Brazil 23-21, 16-21, 16-14 in the men's final.
It was the first gold medal for a European team in a sport that has been dominated by the Brazilians and Americans.
Brazil saved three match points to tie it after falling behind 14-11. But needing to win by two in the third set, Germany took a 15-14 lead and then won it when Emanuel's spike landed just wide of the sideline.
Janis Smedins and Martins Plavins of Latvia took the bronze.
Elsewhere in London
Irish lightweight Katie Taylor and British flyweight Nicola Adams also won boxing gold medals. ... Canada won the bronze in women's soccer, beating France 1-0 at Coventry. ... Defending champion Norway will face Montenegro in the women's handball final Saturday. ... Germany and the Netherlands will meet for the men's field hockey title on Saturday. ... Charlotte Dujardin of Britain won the individual dressage gold medal on Valegro, scoring 90.089 percent in the deciding grand prix musical freestyle which featured Olympic theme music and chimes from Big Ben. Adelinde Cornelissen of the Netherlands, riding Parzival, won silver, while Laura Bechtolsheimer of Britain on Mistral Hojris took the bronze. ... Women's freestyle wrestling golds went to Japan's Saori Yoshida (55-kilogram) and Russia's Natalia Vorobieva (72-kg). ... Turkey's Servet Tazegul (men's 68-kg) and Britain's Jade Jones (women's 57-kg) won taekwondo golds. ... The men's 470 medals race was abandoned because there wasn't enough wind on the nicest day of the sailing regatta. It was rescheduled for today.