Sprint superstar Usain Bolt brought the world championships to a thrilling climax yesterday as his Jamaican team smashed the world 4x100m relay record on the last night of action in Daegu.
It was Bolt’s second gold of the worlds after winning the 200m crown and marked a fairytale ending for the sprinter, who on only the second day of the championships saw his 100m dream shattered when he false-started.
Jamaica’s team of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Bolt got off to a flyer and never looked like being caught, Bolt stretching every sinew to cross the line in 37.04 seconds, with France taking silver and St Kitts and Nevis bronze.
Photo: AFP
The US failed to finish after Darvis Patton tumbled to the ground and could not get the baton to Walter Dix, who was running the anchor leg.
A delighted Bolt danced on the track and pretended to strip his singlet off in front of a packed crowd, just a day after wowing spectators with the fourth-fastest 200m run of all time as he rebounded from his 100m disappointment.
Elsewhere on the track, Mo Farah ensured Olympic hosts Britain ended the worlds on a high with 5,000m gold.
Farah won a thrilling battle down the home stretch to take gold, putting behind him the frustration of just missing out on the 10,000m title.
Farah was pushed hard by 2007 champion Bernard Lagat of the US, but found the strength to stay in front, crossing the line in 13 minutes, 23.36 seconds, just 0.28 seconds ahead of his American rival.
Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel took bronze after his teammate Imane Merga was disqualified for stepping inside the curb.
Russia’s Mariya Savinova denied Caster Semenya a second consecutive women’s 800m title, nipping past the South African for gold.
The reigning world indoor and European champion timed her run to perfection, coming from near the back of the pack at 600m to clinch the victory in 1 minute, 55.87 seconds. Semenya took silver, with Kenya’s 2007 champion Janeth Jepkosgei claiming bronze.
Earlier, Abel Kirui romped to marathon gold on the streets of downtown Daegu to seal a marathon double for the east African powerhouse.
In yet another show of distance running power by Kenya, Kirui crossed the line in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 38 seconds, nearly two-and-a-half minutes ahead of teammate Vincent Kipruto — the biggest winning margin in world championships history. Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa took bronze.
The 29-year-old, who did a celebratory dance after crossing the finishing line, said: “It is really very, very nice for me. It was emotional. I find myself sometimes dancing, rejoicing because it was a very great day.”
The US took gold in the women’s 4x100m relay ahead of Jamaica and the Ukraine, while Christian Taylor of the US won the men’s triple jump, pipping Britain’s defending champion Phillips Idowu. Will Claye of the US claimed bronze.
Russia’s Tatyana Lysenko won the women’s hammer with a best of 77.13m, ahead of Germany’s Betty Heidler and China’s Zhang Wenxiu.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS