Olympic champion Usain Bolt defended his
200m title with ease and took his tally of
World Championships gold medals to seven.
The Jamaican set a world leading time of 19.66
seconds to secure his third successive world
title in the event.
Bolt's compatriot Warren Weir clinched silver
with a personal best 19.79 while America's
Curtis Mitchell (20.04) took bronze by a
hundredth of a second.
Britain's Adam Gemili, 19, dipped home in
fifth, clocking 20.08.
"The 100m is for the fans, and for the show as
the fastest man in the world, but for me it
means more to come here and defend my 200
title," Bolt said.
"When I entered the straight, I felt tired; my
legs felt a little heavy. And my coach told me
not to push too hard if it was possible, so I
backed off a little."
Gemili, who has made exceptional progress
since taking up the sport a year and a half ago,
did not look overawed in his first major
championship final as a senior.
"What an experience this whole championships
has been for me," the former footballer told
BBC Sport.
"There are no words to describe how I'm
feeling. I knew I would be in the mix if I
executed my race. I didn't execute it as well as
I could have, but I still have a lot of people to
thank. I'm very lucky and I'm really happy."
The Blackheath and Bromley athlete qualified
second-fastest for the final after lowering his
personal best in the semi-finals to 19.98,
becoming only the second Briton to dip under
20 seconds.
Gemili was smiling broadly on the start line
and the teenager, with Bolt on his inside, came
out of the bend strongly and finished four
hundredths of a second outside the top three.
Neither Gemili nor the other finalists could
end Bolt's reign. The defending champion, who
has now completed his second Olympic and
world sprint double, led coming into the bend
and from then on overpowered them.
As the finishing line neared, the six-time
Olympic champion eased off and had time to
look over his shoulder to check his team-mate
Weir had grabbed second.
Bolt's winning time was nearly five tenths
slower than the world record time of 19.19 he
set in Berlin, and the slowest of his gold-medal
wins over the distance.
But with Tyson Gay absent through suspension
and compatriot Yohan Blake injured, Bolt did
not have to produce a vintage display to
secure the result the vociferous sell-out crowd
in the Luzhniki Stadium expected.
By the time the world record holder
celebrates his 27th birthday on Wednesday, he
could see his name alongside Americans Carl
Lewis, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix as the
most decorated gold medallist in the
championships' history.
The speed of Bolt's progress to the top of that
list of high achievers depends on Sunday's
4x100m sprint relay final.
Should the Jamaicans repeat their gold medal-
winning exploits of London 2012, the man
from Kingston will on Sunday evening be the
owner of eight gold World Championship
medals, equalling the American trio's record of
eight.
With two silvers also in his collection, it would
be Bolt's 10th medal in all, bringing him level
with Lewis and Felix.
Elsewhere, there were two bronze medals for
Britain on the eighth day of competition
thanks to Tiffany Porter in the women's 110m
hurdles and the women's 4x400m relay
team.
Porter could not hide her joy, skipping down
the track and waving to the crowd, at
becoming Britain's first World Championship
medallist in the event.
"With the hurdles anything can happen, but I
believed in myself," said the 25-year-old, who
lowered her personal best by a hundredth of a
second to 12.55.
"I was racing against some very talented ladies
so I'm just really proud to have won a medal."
Reigning Olympic champion Sally Pearson, who
has been hindered by injuries this season, ran
a season's best 12.50 but had to settle for
silver as America's Brianna Rollins beat her to
gold.
In the women's 4x400m relay, Britain's bronze
gave Christine Ohuruogu her fifth major
championship medal. The quartet finished
behind champions Russia, who set a world-
leading time of three minutes 20.21 seconds to
force the Americans to relinquish the crown
they have held since 2005.
"We've been running together, contending for
medals, since the indoor season. It's a nice
end to our 4x400m campaign," said Ohuruogu,
whose final lap 49.60 split was her best split
time in the event.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDAL TABLE TOP
10
1. Russia 15 (7 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze)
2. United States 20 (6 gold, 11 silver, 3
bronze)
3. Jamaica 7 (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
4. Kenya 10 (3 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze)
5. Ethiopia 10 (3 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze)
6. Germany 6 (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
7. Great Britain & NI 5 (3 gold, 0 silver, 2
bronze)
8. Czech Republic 3 (2 gold, 0 silver, 1
bronze)
9. Ukraine 3 (2 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze)
10. Poland 3 (1 gold, 2 silver, 0 bronze)
0 100000:
Post a Comment