Bolt fires Gay broadside as Dibaba shines

July 08, 2013 12:37 am | Updated 12:37 am IST - PARIS:

Usain Bolt stretches out to win the men's 200-meter race. Warren Weir (extreme left) finished second.

Usain Bolt stretches out to win the men's 200-meter race. Warren Weir (extreme left) finished second.

Usain Bolt fired out a warning to American arch-rival Tyson Gay by scorching to a world-leading time of 19.73 seconds in the 200m at the Paris Diamond League meet on Saturday. The 26-year-old Jamaican, a two-time Olympic and world champion over the distance, held off the attentions of compatriot Warren Weir to streak past the field in emphatic style.

Edging Gay’s season best by one-hundredth of a second was the perfect broadside in the run-up to what promises to be a keenly contested World Athletics Championships in Moscow between August 10-18.

In perfect conditions with temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius (81F), Bolt led a host of impressive performances from a stellar line-up on the track and in the field.

Gowda finishes fourth

Newly-crowned Asian champion Vikas Gowda finished a creditable fourth hurling the iron disc to a distance of 64.45m which he achieved in his third attempt at Stade de France.

He was second after the third round but slipped to fourth after a foul throw in the next round.

Gowda had won the Asian Championship gold in Pune on Thursday with a best throw of 64.90m.

Germany’s Olympic and world champion Robert Harting won the gold with 67.04m in still wind conditions which did not provide much help for the throwers. He took the lead straightaway with 64.97m, extended his advantage with 66.80m in round three and threw 67.04m with his penultimate effort.

Iran’s 2012 London Olympic Games silver-medallist Eshan Hadadi was second with 65.53m. Estonia’s 2008 Beijing Olympic winner Gerd Kanter was third with 65.30m.

Grenada’s Olympic and world 400m champion Kirani James ran a seemingly effortless world leading time of 43.96sec, holding off a late surge from American LaShawn Merritt, the man who previously held both titles.

Ethiopian long-distance superstar Tirunesh Dibaba flew to a meeting record of 14:23.68 in the women’s 5,000m — the seventh fastest of all time behind her own world record. Dibaba, twice Olympic 10,000m champion and twice world champion at both 5,000 and 10,000m, had compatriot Almaz Ayana for company as she broke with 800m to go, but she was never in danger as she sprinted home.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.