Bolt made to sweat, Gatlin jeered
London, Aug. 5: Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt overcame a “very bad” start to successfully kick off the defence of his world 100m title on Friday, but American arch-rival Justin Gatlin was jeered by the British public.
Bolt, seeking a 12th world title in his swansong season, found himself fifth halfway before accelarating to win his heat in 10.07 seconds.
“That was very bad. I stumbled coming out of blocks, I’m not fond of these blocks. I think they’re the worst ones I’ve ever experienced. I have to get this start together as I can’t keep doing this. It’s shaky. When I did my warm up it (the blocks) pushed back. It’s not what I am used to,” Bolt said.
Bolt vs Gatlin at the 2012 Olympics at the same London stadium had been billed as ‘good against evil’, given the American’s doping-tainted past, and so it again proved.
Gatlin, the last man to beat Bolt over 100m — by a hundredth of a second in Rome in 2013 — was met with loud booing and jeering when shown on the big screen before his heat and after he streaked through in a winning time of 10.05sec in his heat.
DUTEE CRASHES OUT
India began their campaign in the World Athletics Championships on a disappointing note with sprinter Dutee Chand and quartermiler Muhammed Anas Yahiya crashing out in the first round heats on Friday.
Dutee got a quota entry despite failing to come up with the qualification standard, finished sixth in Heat 5 of the women’s 100m first round after clocking 12.07secs, well below her season’s best of 11.30 seconds. She finished 38th overall among 47 athletes. — Agencies