Usain Bolt completes magnificent seven as he wins 200m at World Athletics Championships in Moscow, No flashes of lightning like last weekend nor any sparkling new world record to accompany the great man in the Luzhniki Stadium this time but Usain Bolt still illuminates the track above all others as he added world title No 7, this time over 200 metres, to his matchless CV here in Moscow.
The world’s fastest men simply get no nearer to the self-styled living legend, as Bolt became the first man to win five straight half-lap crowns at the World Championships and Olympics while, almost defying credibility, also completing his fourth 100m/200m double in five years.
As Bolt blitzed round in 19.66 sec - nearly half a second slower than his four-year-old world record of 19.19 sec but still the fastest by anyone this year and way too hot for his Jamaican training partner, silver medallist Warren Weir (19.79 sec) it felt like the by now familiar sight of a man running in a world of his own.
The rest of the field effectively all had run-on parts but it was still a treat to see the young Briton Adam Gemili, the first teenager since Bolt back in 2005 to run in the 200m final, take fifth place in 20.08 sec, momentarily even raising hopes he could snatch a medal.
Still, it was perhaps a bit too much to ask of the 19-year-old flyer from Dartford to repeat his exhausting heroics of Friday when he ran a huge personal best of 20.17 sec in the morning and became only the second Briton after John Regis to break 20 sec in the semi, especially as he had the fantastically discomfiting feeling of Bolt’s massive frame hurtling past inside him on the bend.
Yet to maintain his composure, rally and, with about 40 metres left, still look in medal contention until American Curtis Mitchell (20.04 sec) and Nickel Ashmeade (20.05 sec) surged ahead to duel for bronze, was a wonderful effort.
The world’s fastest men simply get no nearer to the self-styled living legend, as Bolt became the first man to win five straight half-lap crowns at the World Championships and Olympics while, almost defying credibility, also completing his fourth 100m/200m double in five years.
As Bolt blitzed round in 19.66 sec - nearly half a second slower than his four-year-old world record of 19.19 sec but still the fastest by anyone this year and way too hot for his Jamaican training partner, silver medallist Warren Weir (19.79 sec) it felt like the by now familiar sight of a man running in a world of his own.
The rest of the field effectively all had run-on parts but it was still a treat to see the young Briton Adam Gemili, the first teenager since Bolt back in 2005 to run in the 200m final, take fifth place in 20.08 sec, momentarily even raising hopes he could snatch a medal.
Still, it was perhaps a bit too much to ask of the 19-year-old flyer from Dartford to repeat his exhausting heroics of Friday when he ran a huge personal best of 20.17 sec in the morning and became only the second Briton after John Regis to break 20 sec in the semi, especially as he had the fantastically discomfiting feeling of Bolt’s massive frame hurtling past inside him on the bend.
Yet to maintain his composure, rally and, with about 40 metres left, still look in medal contention until American Curtis Mitchell (20.04 sec) and Nickel Ashmeade (20.05 sec) surged ahead to duel for bronze, was a wonderful effort.
