The Hindu : Sport : Bolt rewrites the 200m record too

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Bolt rewrites the 200m record too

Walker wins women’s 400m hurdles; Vlasic takes high jump crown

BERLIN: Usain Bolt extended his stunning domination in the sprints on Thursday, adding the 200m gold to his tally at the World championships with yet another World record.

Gritting his teeth and pointing to the clock as soon as the record flashed, Bolt is now 5-for-5 in major sprint events, winning gold each time with a World record.

His time of 19.19 slashed .11 seconds of the mark he set last year, four days after breaking his 100 record by the same margin.

Alonso Edward of Panama was second, a massive .62 seconds behind Bolt. Wallace Spearmon of the United States took bronze.

“Just coming out there, I’m just waiting for the lights to flash ’game over,’ cause I felt like I was in a video game,” said Shawn Crawford, who finished fourth. “That guy was moving — fast.”

Bolt’s spirits got a boost before the start when teammate Melanie Walker added the World title to her Olympic gold in the women’s 400 hurdles, another success for the Caribbean island with outsized performances at the championships.

After defending champion Tyson Gay had withdrawn injured, Bolt’s main competitor stood beyond the finishing line — a huge track clock painted in the same colours as his Jamaican jersey.

Again he warmed up to the crowd like no one else can.

With a new take on former U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s famous Cold War quote “Ich bin ein Berliner,” Bolt pleased the locals with a training jersey saying “Ich bin ein Berlino,” referring to the bear mascot of the championships.

His running was even better than his show. From Lane 5, he gobbled up all the opposition by the end of the curve, and then let those huge arms and legs loose in a whirl of unmatched speed.

Once across the line, he stuck his tongue much like basketball great Michael Jordan used to. And in athletics, he now has the same exalted stature.

He took off his yam-coloured shoes, which had taken him though through eight races in six days, and he started celebrating.

It was the first sultry evening in Berlin, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees C (almost 90 degrees F), reminiscent of that same day, exactly one year ago, in Beijing.

Kirdyapkin regains title

Russia’s Sergey Kirdyapkin regained the men’s 50 kilometres walk title on Friday to give Russia a unique clean sweep of the three walking titles at the championships.

The 29-year-old, the World champion in 2005, timed 3hrs 38mins 35secs beating home Trond Nymark of Norway — fourth in 2005 — while Spain’s 39-year-old 1993 World champion Jesus Angel Garcia took the bronze.

Kirdyapkin revealed that his wife, who had finished fourth in the women’s 20km race had spurred him on.

Gold for Braithwaite

Ryan Braithwaite gave Barbados its first ever medal at the World championships in style here on Thursday when he won the men’s 110 metre hurdles.

The 21-year-old timed a national record of 13.14 seconds to see off American duo Terrence Trammell (13.15sec) — for his fifth silver medal at the Worlds and Olympics combined — while Olympic silver medalist David Payne took bronze, also in 13.15sec.

Walker’s day

Olympic champion Melanie Walker of Jamaica won the gold medal in the women’s 400m hurdles in the second fastest time in history.

Walker finished in 52.42 seconds to win by a big margin over Lashinda Demus of the United States, who took the silver in 52.96. Josanne Lucas of Trinidad and Tobago earned the bronze in 53.20.

Walker’s time was behind only Yuliya Pechenkina’s World record of 52.34, which the Russian ran in August 2003. “This is a fantastic time and a new championship record. Everything went perfectly today,” Walker said. “I have been looking forward to this race because this is the only time you can do it. I never think about the records, I always run the race the best as I can.”

Vlasic retains crown

High-jump queen Blanka Vlasic retained her World crown when she saw off arch-rival and local favourite Ariane Friedrich to win gold.

Vlasic was the only athlete to clear 2.04m in the electric atmosphere of Berlin’s Olympic stadium while Russia’s Anna Chicherova took the silver with a season’s best 2.02m to leave Germany’s Friedrich with the bronze on count back.

The results: Men: 50km walk: 1. Sergey Kirdyapkin (Rus) 3 hrs, 38 min 35s; 2. Trond Nymark (Nor) 3:41:16; 3. Jesus Angel Garcia (Esp) 3:41:37. 200m: 1. Usain Bolt (Jam) 19.19s, 2. Alonso Edward (Pan) 19.81, 3. Wallace Spearmon (US) 19.85.

110 hurdles: 1. Ryan Brathwaite (Bar) 13.14, 2. Terrence Trammell (US) 13.15, 3. David Payne (US) 13.15.

Decathlon: 1. Trey Hardee (US) 8,790 points, 2. Leonel Suarez (Cub) 8,640, 3. Aleksandr Pogorelov (Rus) 8,528.

Women: 400 hurdles: 1. Melaine Walker (Jam) 52.42, 2. Lashinda Demus (US) 52.96, 3. Josanne Lucas (T & T) 53.20.

High jump: 1. Blanka Vlasic (Cro) 2.04, 2. Anna Chicherova (Rus) 2.02, 3. Ariane Friedrich (Ger) 2.02. — Agencies

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