DAEGU, South Korea (AFP) — Usain Bolt may have botched the defence of his world 100m crown, but the Jamaican came back to retain his 200m title and run the anchor in a world-record breaking 4x100m relay team.
His exploits, combined with the powerful running of Veronica Campbell-Brown, helped Jamaica just eclipse the might of the US sprinters.
Campbell-Brown claimed gold in the women’s 200m, while Yohan Blake handily stepped in to win the men’s 100m title after Bolt was disqualified for false starting.
American Carmelita Jeter won silver to Campbell-Brown in the 200m, but was a worthy winner of the 100m, and also anchored the US team to glory in the 4x100m relay.
Despite Jeter taking the blue riband event, three-time champion Allyson Felix lost in her bid for a unique fourth title in the 200m, the American having to content herself with bronze.
Felix had bid for an audacious 200-400m double, but only managed silver in the longer event.
However, the 25-year-old did claim two gold medals, running in both the 4×100 and 4x400m relays.
The build-up to the championships had almost been more about the absentees than those making the trip to Daegu.
Tyson Gay was the highest-profile withdrawal, the only man to have beaten Bolt in the 100m last season, handing Bolt only his second professional loss, pulling up with a hip injury in the US trials.
The US team was immediately stripped of a sprinter who would have offered a genuine threat to the might of the Jamaican sprinters.
The Jamaicans themselves were hit just two days before competition started when Asafa Powell, the fastest man over 100m in the world this season, also withdrew.
His prowess as an anchor man in the relay was also well known, having run 8.70sec for the last leg when Jamaica set a then-world record of 37.10sec in the final of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
But Powell was not missed as Bolt stepped in and took over as the anchor man.
“I ended the championships very well. I started on a bad note but I ended on a good one,” said Bolt.
“It’s a wonderful feeling for me to end it with a world record. I’m very proud of the team, so for me it was a good championship.
“I’m looking forward to the Olympics. I’m going to train harder. For me, I’m happy I came through the championships with two gold. All I can do is look forward to the Olympics.”
