After weekend win, Bolt crushes Gatlin to claim sprint double
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After weekend win, Bolt crushes Gatlin to claim sprint double
Usain Bolt blazed to yet another sprint double by destroying American rival Justin Gatlin to retain his world 200-meter crown in Beijing on Thursday. The peerless Jamaican, who has now won gold in his favorite event at the last four world championships, clocked an electrifying time of 19.55 seconds with a jaw-dropping display at the Bird’s Nest stadium, where he shot to fame at the 2008 Olympics. His only scare came on his lap of honor when he was bizarrely run over by a Chinese cameraman trying to film while riding a two-wheeled Segway scooter. Allegations of widespread doping plunged athletics into crisis before the world championships, but Bolt’s heroics have once again papered over the cracks.
There was no doubt. I told you guys I will do it. When it comes to the 200, I am a different person.
Usain Bolt
Bolt’s fireworks overshadowed a strong evening for the United States after a ho-hum start to the competition, with Allyson Felix storming to the women’s 400-meter gold and Christian Taylor winning the men’s triple jump with the second-longest leap ever. Once again, however, Bolt stole the headlines on a balmy evening in the Chinese capital with a truly staggering run, after drawing first blood in his rivalry with two-time doping offender Gatlin by winning the 100-meter last weekend. Kissing his vest and patting his chest before the race, Bolt quickly blew past Gatlin coming into the bend, surging clear to win in a season-leading time. Gatlin took silver in 19.74 and South African Anaso Jobodwana took bronze in a national record 19.87.
I wanted to challenge myself this year and I’m happy I could be successful. I had to take advantage of my speed and bring that to the 400 meter.
Allyson Felix
