Isinbayeva sinks pole vault record

Russian bounces back from a dismal World Championships to clear 5.06 metres

Bolt, who was paraded around the Letzigrund stadium in a rickshaw before the meeting, was slow out of the blocks and trailed fellow-Jamaican Asafa Powell with about 20 metres left.

But the irrepressible Bolt, who last week smashed the world record in astonishing style with a time of 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin, found an extra burst of speed to win in 9.81.

Isinbayeva atoned for her Berlin flop by clearing 5.06 metres to beat her previous record set at last year's Beijing Olympics by one centimetre. Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, world and Olympic champion at 5,000 and 10,000 metres, comfortably won over the shorter distance in 12 minutes 52.32.

Bolt, the world and Olympic champion over 100 and 200 metres and world record holder in both sprints, finished the evening by producing an electrifying last leg as Jamaica won the 4x100 relay to beat the US by three-hundredths of a second.

"I would say this was a shaky race," Bolt said after the 100. "My body was sitting at the start, I was a little bit tired through the race. "At the end, I needed to pick up my speed as my body did not respond well to the race."

Isinbayeva, winner of the previous two World Championship and Olympic Games titles, was still smarting from her failure in Berlin where she failed to clear the bar and left the field in tears.

Entering Friday's contest at 4.71 metres, Isinbayeva easily got over at her first attempt and also had no trouble with her next vault at 4.81. The 27-year-old won the competition when Poland's world champion Anna Rogowska failed at 4.86, then sent the stadium into uproar by clearing 5.06, again at the first attempt, to break the outdoor record for the 15th time.

"In Berlin, I only had three jumps, so I felt fresh tonight. This is unbelievable, crazy," she said.  "I realised afterwards that it's important to win the contest first and then think about the world record. In that way, it (Berlin) was really useful for me."

Super Merritt
Several athletes celebrated their wins at the World Championships in style. Lashawn Merritt, also the Olympic champion, won the 400 metres in 44.21, once again pushing his rival and fellow American Jeremy Wariner into second place.

The pair came into the back straight neck and neck but Merritt powered away to notch another win. Sanya Richards won the women's 400 in a season's best 48.94 seconds, six-hundredths better than her winning time in Berlin, ahead of fellow-American Allyson Felix in second place.

Isinbayeva is one of three athletes who stayed on course for at least a share of the IAAF Golden League $1 million jackpot which goes to the winners of all six meetings, with the finale next Friday in Brussels. The others in the fray are Bekele and Richards. Blanka Vlasic of Croatia won the women's high jump with 2.01 metres, three centimetres short of her winning leap in Berlin.

Results: Men: 100M: Usain Bolt (Jam, 9.81S) 1; Asafa Powell (Jam, 9.88) 2; Darvis Patton (US, 9.95) 3.
400M: LaShawn Merritt (US, 44.21S) 1; Jeremy Wariner (US, 44.62) 2; Renny Quow (Trinidad & Tobago, 44.77) 3.  800M: David Lekuta Rudisha (Ken, 1:43.52) 1; Alfred Kirwa Yego (Ken, 1:43.66) 2; Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (SA, 1:44.03) 3. 1500M: Augustine Choge (Ken, 3:33.38) 1; Belal Mansoor Ali (Bah, 3:33.74) 2; Asbel Kiprop (Ken, 3:34.09) 3.
5000M: Kenenisa Bekele (Ethi, 12:52.32) 1; Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (Ken, 12:55.03) 2; Dathan Ritzenhein (US, 12:56.27) 3.
110M hurdles: Dwight Thomas (Jam, 13.16S) 1; Terrence Trammell (US, 13.17) 2; Ryan Brathwaite (Bar, 13.27) 3.
3000M steeplechase: Ezekiel Kemboi (Ken, 8:04.44) 1; Bouabdellah Tahri (Fra, 8:05.29) 2; Paul Kipsiele Koech (Ken, 8:06.10) 3.
4x100M relay: Jamaica (37.70S) 1; US (37.73) 2; Trinidad & Tobago (38.20) 3.
Triple jump: Nelson Evora (Por, 17.38M) 1; Arnie David Girat (Cub. 17.31) 2; Leevan Sands (Bah, 17.10) 3.
Javelin throw: Andreas Thorkildsen (Nor, 91.28M) 1; Antti Ruuskanen (Fin, 85.39) 2; Ari Mannio (Fin, 81.82) 3.

Women's 100M: Carmelita Jeter (US, 10.86S) 1; Kerron Stewart (Jam, 11.04) 2; Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (Bah, 11.04) 3. 400M: Sanya Richards (US, 48.94S) 1; Allyson Felix (US, 49.83) 2; Shericka Williams (Jam, 50.40) 3.
1500M: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Bah, 3:59.15) 1; Anna Willard (US, 3:59.38) 2; Lisa Dobriskey (Bri, 3:59.50) 3.

100M hurdles: Brigitte Foster-Hylton (Jam, 12.46S) 1; Dawn Harper (US, 12.48) 2; Perdita Felicien (Can, 12.61) 3.  High jump: Blanka Vlasic (Cro, 2.01M) 1; Anna Chicherova (Rus, 1.98) 2; Chaunte Howard Lowe (US, 1.98) 3.

Pole vault: Yelena Isinbayeva (Rus, 5.06M, WR) 1; Anna Rogowska (Pol, 4.76) 2; Fabiana Murer (Bra, 4.71) 3.