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Bolt makes a 100m splash in Toronto

Source: Agencies | June 13, 2009, Saturday | Print Edition

USAIN Bolt was good enough to win even if he didn't flash his world-record breaking form in the 100 meters at the Festival of Excellence in Toronto on Thursday.

The Olympic champion from Jamaica finished in 10.00 seconds under a dark sky and in a steady downpour at University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium.

"It felt good," Bolt said. "I think I should have done a little better. For me, it's all right. I got through it injury free so that's a good thing."

American Shawn Crawford was second in 10.25, while Ivory Williams finished third in 10.28. Bernard Williams was fourth, crossing the line in 10.47.

Crawford, who won gold in the 200 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, finished second to Bolt in the 200 in Beijing. Williams won gold in the 4x100 relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Bolt won three golds in Beijing last year. He said on Thursday he held back a little because of the cool and damp conditions.

"That's the right thing to do," Bolt said. "You've got to be very careful because you have a lot of running to do and you can't manage to get injured at this time of the season."

Wet weather

Bolt's most recent race was also in wet weather. In May, running on a temporary street track in Manchester, England, he ran the world's fastest 150 in 14.35 seconds, breaking Canadian Donovan Bailey's 12-year-old record of 14.99 in the seldom-run distance.

"I'm kind of used to running in the rain," Bolt said. "I prefer not to run in the rain."

Thursday's race was delayed by two false starts, with Jamaican Marvin Anderson disqualified on the second.

"It threw me off a little bit but not much," Bolt said. "I've been there before."

A sold-out, pro-Jamaican crowd cheered Bolt's every move. He rounded the track twice after his win, once slapping hands with fans along the fence, the second time with children who had been competing earlier.

This was Bolt's second race since a car accident in April, when he crashed his car into a ditch along a highway. Bolt required surgery on his left foot after stepping onto thorns while getting out of the wreckage.

Earlier in the meet, reigning Olympic 400 champion LaShawn Merritt cruised to victory in a time of 44.86.

"I pretty much cleared the field," Merritt said. "I was coming down the home stretch and saw that I was in the lead. In a week and a half I have my nationals. I wanted to come in and get a good race, I got a good race."
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