Slow Bolt still comes out on top

Van Niekerk sets world record in 300 metres at Ostrava

Usain Bolt overcame a slow start to win the 100 metres at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on Wednesday as he gears up for a final World Championships in London this summer.

In his second 100M outing of his final season, the Jamaican was slow out of the blocks but jumped ahead before the halfway point to finish in a time of 10.06 seconds, just edging Yunier Perez of Cuba, who ran a personal best 10.09 seconds. Bolt, who has eight Olympic golds and 13 world championship medals, will retire after August's World Championships.

The 30-year-old said he was not happy about clocking over 10 seconds for the second straight race, although he remained confident about the remainder of the season.

"I am not happy with the time but I am just getting to my running," he told the sellout crowd after his ninth and final appearance at the meet in the eastern Czech industrial city.

Bolt has become a regular at the Ostrava meet and his fans showed their appreciation at the end of the night, holding up placards to form the Jamaican flag as Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" played in the stadium.

"The biggest thing is always the crowd... That is why I keep coming back here. You guys are wonderful. Thanks for everything," Bolt said.

He later told reporters his focus was on staying healthy, including taking care of his back as he gets older. "But I did not get injured, that is key," he was quoted as saying by Czech news website idnes.cz.
With Bolt moving closer to retirement, a number of athletes could be set to emerge from his shadow.

Among them is South African Wayde van Niekerk, who broke the 300M world record earlier in the evening, rubbing Michael Johnson out of the record books for the second time in less than a year.
The 24-year-old, who beat Johnson's 400M best at last summer's Rio Olympics, recorded a time of 30.81 seconds in the rarely-run 300M, bettering the American's previous mark of 30.85 seconds set in 2000.

Van Niekerk's time also beat the Ostrava meeting record set by Bolt in 2010.

Britain's Mo Farah held on to beat Mathew Kimeli of Kenya in the 10,000M with a time of 27 minutes 12.09 seconds.

Results: Men: 100M: Usain Bolt (Jam) 10.06 seconds, 1; Yunier Perez Romero (Tur) 10.09, 2; Jak Ali Harvey (Tur) 10.26, 3. 300M: Wayde van Niekerk (SA) 30.81, 1; Isaac Makwala (Bot) 31.44, 2; Clarence Munyai (SA) 31.61, 3. 1000M: Nicholas Kiplangat Kipkoech (Ken) 2:18.51, 1; Jakub Holusa (Cze) 2:18.60, 2; Filip Sasinek (Cze) 2:19.03, 3. 10000M: Mohamed Farah (Gbr) 27:12.09, 1; Mathew Kimeli Kipkorir (Ken) 27:14.43, 2; Timothy Toroitich (Ugd) 28:02.23, 3. 3000M steeplechase: Benjamin Kigen (Ken) 8:11.54, 1; Getnet Wale (Eth) 8:13.16, 2; Hailemariyam Amare Tegegn (Eth) 8:13.39, 3. 110M hurdles: Garfield Darien (Fra) 13.09, 1; Balazs Baji (Hun) 13.23, 2; Milan Trajkovic (Cyp) 13.34, 3.

High jump: Sylwester Bednarek (Pol) 2.32, 1; Tihomir Ivanov (Bul) 2.30, 2; Jamal Wilson (Bah) and Majed Aldin Ghazal (Syr) 2.27, 3. Triple jump: Christian Taylor (US) 17.57, 1; Troy Doris (Guy) 16.80, 2; Elvijs Misans (Lat) 16.74, 3.   

Shot put: Tomas Stanek (Cze) 21.63, 1; Michal Haratyk (Pol) 21.34, 2; Stipe Zunic (Cro) 20.76, 3.    

Hammer throw: Pawel Fajdek (Pol) 83.44, 1; Wojciech Nowicki (Pol) 80.31, 2; Bence Halasz (Hun) 78.85, 3.

Javelin throw: Thomas Roehler (Ger) 91.53, 1; Johannes Vetter (Ger) 87.88, 2; Jakub Vadlejch (Cze) 86.43, 3.

Women: 200M: Marie Josee Ta Lou (CIV) 22.44, 1; Alyssa Conley (SA) 23.03, 2; Estela Garcia (Esp) 23.17, 3. 1500M: Gudaf Tsegay (Eth) 4:00.96, 1; Rababe Arafi (Mor) 4:03.34, 2; Zoe Buckman (Aus) 4:06.30, 3 100M hurdles: Pamela Dutkiewicz (Ger) 12.72, 1; Rikenette Steenkamp (SA) 12.99, 2; Hanna Platitsyna (Ukr) 13.020, 3.
  
Pole vault: Anzhelika Sidorova (Rus) 4.70, 1; Alysha Newman (Can) 4.65, 2; Robeilys Peinado (Ve) 4.55, 3. Hammer throw: Anita Wlodarczyk (Pol) 79.72, 1; Wang Zheng (Chn) 76.25, 2; Hanna Skydan (Aze) 74.25, 3.