LONDON — Usain Bolt ran into history Thursday night, becoming the first sprinter to win the 100 and 200 meters in consecutive Olympics.


With so much ease that he seemed to coast over the final 20 meters, Bolt won the 200 ahead of his main rival and Jamaican countryman, Yohan Blake, holding his finger to his lips as he crossed the finish line as if asking the thunderous crowd for quiet appreciation.


Bolt’s time was 19.32 seconds, no threat to his world record of 19.19 but enough to fend off Blake, who finished in 19.44. Warren Weir made it a sweep for Jamaica, winning bronze in 19.84.


“It’s what I came here to do,” Bolt said. “I’m now a legend. I’m also the greatest athlete to live.”


Several strides past the the finish line, Bolt dropped to the track and did five push-ups. His post-race performance had begun. Before long he would playfully take a photographer’s camera and snap a few shots of his own — as camera flashes sparkled throughout the Olympic Stadium.


“If he wins, that should end the debate about who is the greatest sprinter in history,” Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago, who won bronze medals in the 200 at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 2000 Sydney Games, said before the race. “Anyone saying it is not Bolt would be doing it without objectivity.”


If there was one athlete who could prevent the 6-foot-5 Bolt from claiming this record, it appeared to be the 5-11 Blake, his training partner. Blake finished second in the Olympic 100 and defeated Bolt in the 200 at the Jamaican trials, running him down from behind.


“This is my first Olympics,” Blake said afterward. “I can’t complain.”


Most experts favored Bolt, who appeared to have solved issues with his back and his starting technique Sunday in winning the 100 in 9.63 seconds, the second-fastest time ever run.


Bolt, 25, set a world record of 19.30 seconds at the 2008 Beijing Games and lowered it to 19.19 at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.


Last year, Blake, who is known as the Beast because of his resolute training style, ran the second-fastest 200 ever, 19.26 seconds, at a meet in Brussels.


Before Bolt and Blake lined up for the 200 final Thursday night, David Rudisha of Kenya riled the Olympic Stadium crowd with a world-record performance — the first at this track — in the 800-meter final. He ran a 1:40.91, the first time someone has finished the 800 in less than 1:41. Nijel Amos took silver, the first Olympic medal ever for Botswana. Timothy Kitum of Kenya was third.


In other events at the track on Thursday night, Caster Semenya of South Africa had the best time in the women’s 800 semifinals, finishing in 1:57:67. And in Round 1 of the women’s 4x100-meter relay, the United States had the best time by a considerable margin, 41.64 seconds.