Jamaica's anchor man ran a blistering final leg to win his country gold, and secure himself three gold medals in three successive Olympics, while the US were disqualified from bronze for a fumbled handover. This is how it happened
Bolt surged away from the field at the last handover to make it look easy for Jamaica. The USA's Trayvon Bromell threw himself over the finish line in a desperate bid for second place, but was denied by Japan's Aska Cambridge, and then denied bronze when his team were disqualified for an early handover
A tight race was seemingly anyone's until the expected happened in the final leg.
Jamaica left it late to complete the last handover, while Japan and Canada gained a vital advantage going into the final leg
Coming out of the handover, Bolt had Cambridge in hot pursuit, but was already pulling away
Bolt comfortably led the field at the finish line, with a tight pack behind him
Why were the US disqualified? According to officials in Rio, the first handover from Mike Rodgers to Justin Gatlin was completed before entering the changeover zone. Three legs later, Team USA were denied bronze
Photographs: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images; Morry Gash/AP; Fabrice Coffrini/AFP; composite from BBC footage
It felt like an assured victory in a competitive field, but in fact it was the slowest of Jamaica's three 4x100m golds