Jamaica’s Usain Bolt yesterday won the 100m title at the World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, crossing the line in 9.79 seconds to reassert his status as the fastest man on the planet.
The US’ Justin Gatlin, the form sprinter of the past two years, finished second in 9.80 to take silver, while Andre de Grasse of Canada and the US’ Trayvon Bromell crossed the line together in third place in a time of 9.92.
Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion has now not been beaten in the 100m or 200m in six major global championships going back to 2007, although he was disqualified from the shorter race at the Daegu World Championships in 2011.
Photo: EPA
The 29-year-old will go for successive world championship sprint sweeps in Beijing, the site of his breakthrough triumph at the 2008 Olympics, with the 200m final scheduled for Thursday.
Earlier yesterday, Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, who only decided to compete four weeks ago, regained the heptathlon world title after what she described as her “hardest year ever.”
Ennis-Hill became a mother for the first time 13 months ago, and had originally intended for this year to be a “transition” year to prepare for the defense of the Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro.
The Briton’s victory followed a dramatic twist in the day’s first discipline, the long jump, when her closest rival, teammate Katarina Johnson-Thompson, scored zero points following three foul jumps.
Ennis-Hill jumped 6.43m and threw the javelin 42.51m to give her an 86-point lead before the final event, the 800m.
She put in a determined display, sprinting past the pre-championship favorite, Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, down the home straight to win in 2 minutes, 10.13 seconds.
Ennis-Hill, who won the world title in Berlin in 2009, finished with 6,669 points.
Theisen-Eaton, who is married to US decathlon world record-holder Ashton Eaton, repeated her silver medal-winning performance at the 2013 world championships with a score of 6,554.
The bronze went to Latvia’s Laura Ikauniece-Admidina with 6,516 points.
Having been in contention for gold overnight, Johnson-Thompson finished 28th and last with 5,039 points having been compelled by the rulebook to jog around her 800m in order to be allowed to compete again this week in the individual long jump.
“This time last year, I’d just had my son and now I am world champion. It’s just an incredible feeling,” Ennis-Hill, 29, told reporters.
“It was just a massive surprise just to be here, to be honest. I am really lost for words,” she said. “If I had come here and come away with a bronze medal I would have been so, so happy. To have won the gold is even better.”
“This has been the hardest year ever. Going into London [for the Olympics] was hard, with different pressures and challenges in that respect, but this year, juggling all my mummy duties and training. Everything has been so hard, but it’s been the most amazing year as well, because I’ve got my son and now I’m here on a global stage with a world title again, which is just amazing,” Ennis-Hill said.
Johnson-Thompson had started the day within 80 points of her older teammate and, with strong events to come, was reckoned to have a golden opportunity.
However, three times she overstepped the plasticine marker on the takeoff board for fouls — including a final effort that looked close to 6.90m.
Joe Kovacs won the shot put final by defeating two-time defending champion David Storl of Germany, giving the US its first gold medal of the meet. Kovacs threw 21.93m on his penultimate attempt to hold a 19cm edge over Storl. O’Dayne Richards of Jamaica took bronze with 21.69.
Pawel Fajdeck of Poland retained his world title by winning the hammer throw final with a best mark of 80.88m.
Three-time Asian Games champion Dlishod Nazarov of Tajikistan took silver and Poland’s Wojciech Nowicki took bronze on a countback after both recorded 78.55.
Additional reporting by AP
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