LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE
10.06 as Bolt finds time is catching up
HE did the pose, he did his waves, he got the win. But plainly all is not right with Usain Bolt, who rather worryingly seems to have misplaced his boosters two months out from the World Championships.
His time here in Ostrava was 10.06sec. Hardly grounds for a full-scale search for a lost soul, but equally a good deal short of the standards he has set over a breathtaking career.
The fact he only marginally beat Yunier Perez, a Cuban running a personal best of 10.09sec, is a little concerning, but more troubling was the slight limp afterward.
Bolt said he would be visiting his doctor, without offering any more details of what might be holding him back in a farewell season yet to hit its stride.
His season-opening run of 10.03sec in Jamaica on June 10 was, in his words, ‘horrifying’, a messy combination of slow start and subdued finish.
Here, his start was reasonable, but whereas the Bolt of eight Olympic gold medals has always motored away around the 50m mark, this version couldn’t put any great distance on a mediocre field.
With the worlds in London edging closer, and with it his retirement, there must be a marginal fear his grand finale will not have its happy ending.
‘I’m not happy with the time but I’m just getting into my running, improving the execution,’ said the 30-year-old Jamaican. ‘When I get checked out by my doctor and the coach is giving me some training, I’ll be fine.’
Of course, this may just be the lull before the glory, as in his injury-hit 2015 season when he recovered to beat Justin Gatlin in the World Championships.
This time he has more on his mind, most notably the passing of close friend Germaine Mason, the British high jumper who was partying with Bolt the night he crashed his motorcycle and died. Bolt said he lost three weeks of training to grieve and his coach Glen Mills offered a greater insight into Bolt’s true feelings yesterday.
‘It was a big blow; he took it very hard,’ he said. ‘It affected him in terms of his training and I am sure in moments away from training there is remembrance and sorrow and so on.’
Meanwhile, Mo Farah beat a weak field to win the 10,000m but fell way short of his stated aim of beating his personal best.
His goal was to break 26:46.57, but that was fanciful in the absence of world-class opposition to pull him along. His closest challenger on the night, Mathew Kimeli, finished sixth in the Kenyan trials four days earlier and the 19-year-old didn’t push Farah until the final lap.
The Briton’s sprint response was convincing, but his time of 27:12.09 a long way adrift of his target.