ATHLETICS: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSTHESE CHAMPIONSHIPS had been missing just one thing: a world record. Trust Usain Bolt to deliver.
In the very last event of nine days of competition he and his three Jamaican team-mates, Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake, ran 37.04 seconds in the 4x100 metres relay. It beat the world record Jamaica had set at the Beijing Olympics – when Asafa Powell was running with the other three instead of Blake – by six hundredths of a second.
Bolt’s final leg was preposterously quick. “When I saw the first three legs, I said, ‘Anything is possible’,” he said. “So I ran my ultimate best.” As he came down the straight, he said, he had a voice in his head telling him over and over again: “I can do this, I can do this.”
When Bolt believes, the clock obliges.
He left tumult in his wake, like a speedboat cutting up a pack of pleasure trippers on pedalos.
The USA’s third runner, Darvis Patton, collided with Britain’s anchor, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, as he came around the bend. Aikines-Aryeetey was knocked sideways, but he had already bungled his change-over by setting off too early for Marlon Devonish to catch him. Patton fell face-first, his legs swinging over into the next lane, where Trinidad Tobago’s Aaron Armstrong had to skip out of the way to avoid tripping. Trinidad Tobago at least went on to finish last, which was more than Britain or the USA managed.
“I’m struggling to understand always why that baton can’t get round,” said Britain’s head coach, Charles van Commenee. “I’m happy the cameras weren’t on me at that point.”
France finished second and St Kitts and Nevis third. By the time they crossed the line Bolt was already striking a pose.
It capped an entertaining final night. Earlier, Caster Semenya finished second behind Russia’s Mariya Savinova in the 800m. Semenya’s 1:56.35 was her quickest time since she won gold in the previous world championships, in Berlin.
Since then her life, a little like Darvis Patton, has been turned upside-down. However, the South African proved she is still capable of running as she once did, after a season in which she only broke two minutes on three occasions.
It is the competition who have changed, not her. Savinova’s 1:55.87 seconds was the fastest in the world this year. The two women fought fiercely around the final 200m. Semenya trailed around in sixth for a lap and a half and then kicked for the finish, but she could not lose Savinova. As they came down the straight, Semenya’s strength seemed to sap away.
“I achieved what I wanted,” said Semenya, who is still only 20. “I don’t talk about the past. I’m still young and I have to focus on the future.”
Guardian Service
