Usain Bolt carved his name deeper into Olympic legend when he came from behind to reel in Justin Gatlin and win his third-straight 100-meter gold medal at the Rio Games on Sunday.

The Jamaican, who is aiming to sweep the board with all three sprint titles for a third consecutive Olympics, trailed Gatlin for most of the race after making a poor start but came through to edge his rival by 0.08 seconds in a time of 9.81.

"This is what I came here for," said Bolt, who will also try to defend his 200- and 4x100-meter titles this week in Rio. "This is the first step in the right direction. I'm happy, I'm proud of myself. It wasn't perfect execution but I got it done."