Bolt’s return upstaged by world record in hurdles
American Harrison breaks 28-year mark
LONDON — Usain Bolt looked in fine shape for the Olympics by winning his last race before Rio de Janeiro on his return from injury.
Keni Harrison also looked more than ready for Brazil by breaking a 28-year record in the 100-metre hurdles in London on Friday.
Only unlike Bolt, Harrison is not going to the Olympics.
While Bolt is Rio-bound despite being forced to pull out of the Jamaican trials with a hamstring injury, Harrison failed to make the American track squad after a poor performance at her trials.
Instead, Harrison will have to settle for her record-breaking night at the London Diamond League meet being her crowning moment of the summer.
The 23-year-old Harrison ran 12.20 seconds on the site of the 2012 Olympics to surpass Yordanka Donkova’s previous mark of 12.21 set in August 1988.
“Not making the Olympic team I was really upset,” Harrison said. “And I wanted to come out here and do what I know what I could have done (in Rio).”
Rio-bound Brandon McBride of Windsor, Ont., is on Olympic pace after recording a huge personal best in the 800 metres. McBride finished second in 1:43.95, shattering his previous best time of 1:44.50.
The 21-year-old, who just finished his senior season at Mississippi State, has his sights set on Gary Reed’s Canadian record of 1:43.68, set in 2008.
Even sweeter for Harrison was finishing ahead of compatriots Brianna Rollins and Kristi Castlin, who both qualified for the Olympics ahead of her.
Harrison will still be cheering on her teammates in Rio.
“You have one bad day but I knew I still had it in me,” Harrison said, referring to her sixth-place finish at the U.S. trials earlier this month. “I was coming out here with just vengeance to show these girls what I have.”
Bolt rarely has anything to prove to anyone. But the six-time Olympian champion had to show in London that he hasn’t been slowed by the hamstring injury that led to him withdrawing from his country’s Olympic trials.
In his first 200-meter race of the season, the world’s fastest man ran 19.89 seconds at the Olympic Stadium he left with three golds four years ago during the London Games.
“I’m not fully in shape. I need more work but over time I will be fine,” Bolt said. “I could feel the rust. The execution I think up there wasn’t perfect but it was my first run so I can’t complain.”
The only complaints Bolt had were targeted at American rivals who had lightly suggested — not strongly — that he got preferential treatment by being allowed to skip the Jamaican trials.
“I felt it was a joke,” Bolt said. “I felt it was a disrespect the fact they think I’d back out of a trials. Me, Usain Bolt who has proven myself year (after) year that I’m the greatest.
“I laughed when I heard it. I was disappointed, especially in Justin Gatlin.”