Despite recent drug revelations, Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt still knows how to put on a show. He recuperated from a poor start to power away from his opponents by crossing the line in 9.85 sec at the London Diamond League meeting in the London Olympic Stadium on Friday.
The Jamaican superstar became the first man in history to win back-to-back Olympic titles in both the 100 and 200 metres on the track last summer. The fastest man on the planet is all set to extend his dominance on the global stage just before the World Championships in Moscow. Tyson Gay of America is the only athlete who covered the distance within the time of 9.75 sec. Michael Rodgers of America stood second in 9.98 sec. Nesta Carter of Jamaica covered the distance in 10 secs to claim the third place.
Bolt expressed that he loves coming here. The fans gave him so much energy and this is what makes him run faster. He added that he felt good tonight and he is pleased with the time he did even if he was a little slow off the blocks but he had to play catch up. In fact, there is a lot of room for improvement. He is getting there and Moscow is going to be great. Bolt was a man on a mission and he did not let his worldwide fan club down.
Bolt, who 24 hours earlier announced about his despair at the latest drugs scandal to rock athletics with sprint opponents Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell implicated that they had been paraded around the stadium beforehand.
The 26-year-old stood on a mock fighter jet and held the Jamaican flag aloft. He took the applause of the sun-drenched supporters as he was driven around the stadium.
Warren Weir won the 200m race. Weir finished a tenth of a second ahead of Jason Young of Jamaica in a time of 19.89. On the other side, Olympic champion Kirani James thrashed a high-class field to win the 400m. The Grenadian timed his run to perfection to win in 44.65.
Apart from them, Nick Symmonds thrashed American opponents Duane Solomon and Brandon Johnson to win the men's 800m in 1:43.67. Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine leapt to high jump success but failed with 2 audacious attempts at a latest world record of 2.47m. Piotr Malachowski of Poland won the men's discus with his 3rd round throw of 67.35m. Further, Czech star Zuzana Hejnova set a new record of 53.07 in the women's 400m hurdles. She powered her way to victory to bang Britain's Perri Shakes-Drayton for the 3rd time this year.
Shakes-Drayton, who set a personal best time of 53.67 too expressed that she gave it everything and just went for it but it just wasn't adequate. Brenda Martinez of America convincingly won the 800m in 1:58.2. Mary Kuria of Kenya produced a strong run to deny Morrocan opponent Ibtissam Lakhouad in the women's 1500m category. Shannon Rowbury of America accomplished a season's best of 8:41.46 in the women's 3000m. Yarisley Silva of Cuba proved strongest in the pole vault with a latest Diamond League record of 4.83m.
