Thunder Bolt atones for 100M debacle

Kneeling down on the track, Usain Bolt muttered a silent prayer and sent another of his imaginary arrows straight to stratosphere.

The message from the Jamaican champion was loud and clear: I am back.

The pent-up energy, emotions and frustrations of the last week came out flowing on the track as Bolt came up with another of his specials in the 200 metres on Saturday. The disappointment of the 100 metres was forgotten in that blazing run of 19.40 seconds as the world record holder defended his territory with an emphatic victory at the 13th World Championships in athletics.

It was the fourth fastest performance ever in the 200 metres. Only Bolt himself – 19.19 and 19.30 – and Michael Johnson (19.32) have run faster and the Jamaican said it was his way of saying sorry to the fans.

“I wasn’t running angry. I was running hard just to say to fans sorry about the 100 metres,” he said after prolonged celebrations that saw him dance around the track and play hide and seek with the army of photographers during his victory lap. “I came out to do my best and prove to them that I am the best. At the start, I didn’t panic at all, I was nervous surely. But I am always nervous at the start,” said Bolt, disqualified for a false start in the 100 metres.

Bolt’s strong run also took three other men under 20 seconds – Walter Dix (19.70) for the silver, France’s Christophe Lemaitre (19.80) for the bronze and Norway’s Jayasuma Ndure (19.95) for the fourth spot. It was the first time in the elite territory for the Frenchman, whose time was the second fastest ever by a European.

Though the time was special, it wasn’t the smoothest of races by the Jamaican, who got off to the slowest start among the finalists. Running hard in lane three, he overcame the challenge of Dix in the curve and in the straight, he was the king, despite wilting a bit nearing the finish.

“For me, 19.40 is a good time; I am not in my best shape but it is all about fun and enjoyment,” said the world champion.

It was fun and enjoyment for Sally Pearson too a little earlier with the Aussie overcoming the curse of the cover to win the women’s 100M hurdles in a blistering 12.28 seconds, a championship record. In a flawless performance, the Commonwealth Games champion became the fourth best performer of all time while clocking the best time in this event in 19 years.

“I cannot even imagine what I have achieved,” said Pearson, who had run a personal best of 12.37 in the semifinal a little earlier. “I knew after the semifinal that I could do something special,” added the Australian, coming back from a serious back injury. Her effort also pulled two Americans to their personal best – Danielle Carruthers and Olympic champ Dawn Harper both timing 12.47 for silver and bronze respectively.

Kiprop wins

Asbel Kiprop became only the third man to win the Olympic and world titles in 1500 metres with a workmanlike finish in the final. Kiprop joined illustrious names Noureddine Morceli and Hicham el Guerrouj after outsmarting a bid by the season’s leader and compatriot Silas Kiplagat in the final 300 metres, timing 3:35.69.

Vlasic dethroned

Blanka Vlasic’s bid to become the first high jumper to win three straight world titles were foiled by Russia’s Anna Chicherova on a countback. Chicherova, with a personal best of 2.07 – third on the all-time list – was the hot favourite and she obliged, clearing every height till 2.03 on her first attempt.

Vlasic too made it but needed two attempts to go past 2.00 and 2.03. Both Vlasic and Chicherova failed three times at 2.05, leaving the Russian the winner, narrowly so.
Javelin giant Andreas Thorkildsen was another defending champion to miss out. Matthias De Zordo of Germany nailed the gold by sending the spear to 86.27 in the first round and try as he did, the Norwegian Olympic champion could not match it, suffering his first defeat in a major championships since 2007.

Results:

Men: 200M: Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 19.40 seconds, 1; Walter Dix (USA) 19.70, 2; Christophe Lemaitre (France) 19.80, 3.

1500M: Asbel Kiprob (Kenya) 3:35.69, 1; Silas Kiplagat (Kenya) 3:35.92, 2; Matthew Centrowitz (USA) 3:36.08, 3.

Javelin throw: Matthias De Zordo (Germany) 86.27 metres, 1; Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) 84.78, 2; Guellermo Martinez (Cuba) 84.30, 3.

50Km walk: Sergey Bakulin (Russia) 3:41:24, 1; Denis Nizhegorodov (Russia) 3:42:45, 2; Jared Tallent (Australia) 3:43:36, 3.

Women: 100M hurdles: Sally Pearson (Australia) 12.28 seconds, 1; Danielle Carruthers (USA) 12.47, 2; Dawn Harper (USA) 12.47, 3.

High jump: Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.03 metres, 1; Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) 2.03, 2; Antonietta Di Martio (Italy) 2.00, 3.

4x400M relay: USA (Sanya Richards-Ross, Allyson Felix, Jessica Beard, Francena McCorory) 3:18.09, Jamaica 3:18.71, 2; Russia 3:19.36, 3.