Showman supreme and sprinter without parallel, Usain Bolt placed the one missing jewel on his glittering crown, winning the gold medal in the World Championships 100 metres in a new world record on Sunday night.
Billed as the contest of the championship, the race truly lived up to the billing as Bolt powered home in 9.58 seconds, shattering the 9.69 mark he had set while winning the Olympic gold medal last year in Beijing.
In front of nearly 50,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium, neither Tyson Gay nor Asafa Powell could challenge the 22-year-old Bolt. Slightly slow off the blocks, he was in control past thirty metres and simply cruised from then on.
American Gay uncorked his career best of 9.71 seconds also the third fastest time in history, and Powell his season’s best of 9.84, but Bolt was simply on another planet on this night. It was the fastest 100M in world championship history too, as five runners went under ten seconds. The wind read a perfectly legal 0.9 m/s.
A sneak preview of the final arrived a good two hours earlier when Bolt sailed through his semifinal in 9.89 seconds. Bolt was in control before reaching the business end of the race and from then on, enjoyed the view from pole position. Training partner Bailey, also coached by Glen Mills, timed 9.96 to go through.
Bolt’s run was the fastest ever at the semifinal stage of a World Championships but it came after he had committed the first false start of his 100M career. There was another false start soon after, this one leading to the exit of Britain’s Tyrone Edgar but when the race finally took off, there was no stopping Bolt.
Gay again was slow to get off the blocks but he worked and worked to attain the top spot ahead of a relaxed-looking Asafa Powell, timing 9.93 to the Jamaican’s 9.95.
In the shadow of the big race, the women sprinters negotiated two rounds, with all the favourites progressing unscathed. Season’s leader Kerron Stewart of Jamaica led the qualifiers into the semifinals in a blistering 10.92. American Carmelita Jeter (10.94), defending champion Veronica Cambpell (10.99) and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser (11.02) all looked in good touch ahead of Monday’s final two rounds.
“This is all I can do – you either give everything or nothing at all,” said Stewart after running hard in her heat. “Whenever you line up, there is pressure. I am here at the World Championships and I have to compete.”
In the women’s 400M semifinals, American Sanya Richards seemed keen to send out a message to British rival Christine Ohuruogu, winning their second head-to-head meeting here. Both of them made it to the final – Richards clocking 50.21 to Ohuruogu’s 50.35.
There was drama in the first round of the women’s 800 in the morning with defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei suffering a fall and ending up last in her heat. Jepkosgei and the young South African sensation Caster Semenya got into a tangle in the final bend, sending the Kenyan crashing onto the track. Later, on a Kenyan appeal, Jepkosgei was reinstated in the semifinals but both she and Semenya suffered injuries in the incident and it remains to be seen whether they will be in good shape for the next round. Olympic champion Pamela Jelima, also of Kenya, was spiked in her heat but still progressed into the semis.
DH News Service
Results: Men: 100M: Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 9.58 seconds (World record) 1; Tyson Gay (USA) 9.71, 2; Asafa Powell (Jamaica) 9.84, 3. Shot put: Christian Cantwell (USA) 22.03 metres, 1; Tomasz Majewski (Poland) 21.91,2; Ralf Bartels (Germany) 21.37, 3.
Women: Shot put: Valerie Vili (New Zealand) 20.44 metres, 1; Nadine Kleinert (Germany) 20.20, 2; Lijiao Gong (China) 19.89, 3. Heptathlon: Jessica Ennis (Britain) 6731 points, 1; Jennifer Oeser (Germany) 6493, 2; Kamila Chudzik (Poland) 6471, 3. 20KM walk: Olga Kaniskina (Russia) 1::28:09, 1; Olive Loughlane (Ireland) 1::28:58, 2; Hong Liu (China) 1::29:10, 3.
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