Bolt restores sprint world order in the rain
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His legs were hurting, the rain was pouring and he was trailing late in the race.
Doesn’t matter. This is Usain Bolt.
And nothing gets in the way of him and first place, especially when he’s driven as he was on Sunday in the 100-meter final at the world championships.
Bolt blew by Justin Gatlin with about 30 meters to go and never glanced back. He also didn’t even crack a smile when he crossed the finish line because this took a lot more work than the world’s fastest sprinter usually needs.
Gatlin was second and Bolt’s Jamaican teammate, Nesta Carter, took third.
Of all Bolt’s titles, this one will have a special meaning, considering he false-started two years ago in the final in Daegu to lose his crown.
Now, it’s his again.
“It’s always great to get back your title,” said Bolt, who won in 9.77 seconds, .19 seconds slower than his world record. “I’m happy with myself I got it done.”
Many of Bolt’s top rivals were missing from the field. Gone were Tyson Gay (doping offense) and Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, who was the reigning champion but skipped the worlds because of an injured hamstring.
Country’s flag
Shortly after the race, Bolt sauntered around the track with his country’s flag tied around his neck like a cape. These days, he has to be the Superman of his sport. Given all the recent doping scandals, track needs someone to save the day.
For now, he will settle for blowing away the dark cloud over his proud sprinting nation, which saw some of its most decorated sprinters fall from grace. Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson and Veronica Campbell-Brown all tested positive for a banned substance and weren’t at the worlds.
“I’m just doing my part by running fast, winning titles and letting the world know you can do it clean,” Bolt said. “My focus is to continue doing what I do.”
And that means running fast times, even on a drenched track.
What started as a steady drizzle turned into a downpour just before the gun sounded. So much so that Bolt clowned around when he was introduced to the crowd, pretending to open an umbrella.
Really, though, rain doesn’t bother him. Not in the least.
Neither does anything else, like falling behind early. He knew he might trail Gatlin at the halfway mark, because Bolt has never been a good starter and may have been extra cautious considering what happened in South Korea two years ago.
Bolt will now go for another golden triple, just like the one he had at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games, and also at the 2009 worlds in Berlin.
He has the heats of the 200 on Friday and hopefully the 4x100 final on Sunday’s closing day.
Yesterday, Olympic champion Felix Sanchez’s bid to become the first man to win the 400 meters hurdles world title three times got off to the ideal start at as he eased into the semifinals in Moscow.
While the 35-year-old from the Dominican Republic — who also won the Olympic title in 2004 — was on cruise control, Britain’s defending world champion Dai Greene struggled to even make tomorrow’s semifinals.
Heading into yesterday’s evening session, the United States led the medal standings with two gold and three overall, edging Kenya and Ethiopia, which both have one medal of each color. Jamaica was fourth.
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