Lausanne: World record sprinter Usain Bolt returned from an achilles tendon injury with a clear win over seven rivals at the Diamond League meet
here Thursday.
The Jamaican outran his 100 metres opponents comfortably,
racing across the finish line in a time of 9.82 seconds.
Asked if he felt any pain during the run, Bolt replied:
"Slightly."
But he quickly added that he "would not say it was
painful, but that it takes time to heal."
Overall, the world champion who matched the best time
this season assessed: "I was feeling extremely nice and good."
"It`s getting better and the weather was warm so it was
good," added the Olympic star, who won the loudest cheers at
the stadium.
"I`m very happy because the weather helped me to run fast
and Billie Jean brought me in the best conditions for the
race, because I felt a bit asleep by the training," he said,
referring to Michael Jackson`s hit song.
Fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake came second with 9.96s while
Churandy Martina took third with 10.16s.
Bolt, the world record holder for 100 metres and 200
metres, had decided to run the shorter sprint instead of the
200 in order to avoid any new injury, the organisers of the
Athletissima meeting in Lausanne had said ahead of the event.
To accomodate Bolt, organiser Jacky Delapierre had
obtained special approval from the IAAF to add the 100 metres
event to the programme.
With Bolt out of the 200 metres, American Walter Dix
prevailed with a time of 19.86 seconds, though it remained far
from the time of 19.56 seconds set by Bolt this year before he
picked up his injury.
While short of all-time records, several athletes managed
this year`s bests here.
American Jeremy Wariner managed to shave a few seconds
off the season`s top 400 metres time, with 44.57 seconds.
Cuban Yargelis Savigne soared past 14.99 metres in the
triple jump, wiping out the previous farthest reached this
year by Kazakhstan`s Olga Rypakova.
Ethiopian Gelete Burka completed the 1500 metres under
the four minute mark with 3:59.28. Just behind her was
Morrocan Ibtissam Lakhouad, who finished with 3:59:35.
Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot took first place in the 3000
metres in 8:23.60.
Fellow Kenyan Nicholas Kemboi only just improved the
season`s best in the 1500m with 3:31.52.
In the 3000m steeplechase, Kenyan Brimin Kiprop Kipruto
finished with 8:01.62, an improvement of about two seconds
this year.
Bureau Report
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