World record holder Usain Bolt put his poor performance in the Czech Republic behind him with a season’s best 9.76 seconds in the 100m race at the Golden Gala in Rome on Thursday.
Bolt ran a relatively slow 10.04 seconds in Ostrava last week, raising questions about his Olympic preparations.
His previous best this year of 9.82 seconds was set at home in Jamaica last month.
Photo: AFP
“My drive was better and I started well,” Bolt said. “The transition was also better. After Ostrava, a lot of people questioned me, but I never questioned myself. Everyone has a bad race, you just got to go back to the drawing board.”
While his start in Rome still was not exceptional, Bolt quickly pulled in front and broke the previous meet record of 9.77 seconds set by Tyson Gay three years ago.
Former world record holder Asafa Powell crossed second in 9.91 seconds and European champion Christophe Lemaitre was third in 10.04 seconds.
There was virtually no wind.
Powell did not hear “set” or “go” from the starter.
“I’m very upset with my race tonight. I’m not upset that I lost, but that I couldn’t execute like I wanted to,” Powell said.
“I’m not even going to complain,” Powell added. “Usain ran a great race. I just have to go home, work on it and come back.”
Bolt attributed his problems in Ostrava to fatigue for his first race of the season in Europe. This time, he appeared energized even two hours before his race, when he warmed up the crowd with a lap around the track on a golf cart, wearing an Italy national soccer shirt as he danced and posed for the cameras.
The crowd of nearly 60,000 cheered Bolt’s every move.
“I appreciate a great crowd, they gave me a lot of love,” Bolt said. “I feed off the crowd, so that was good.”
When he came back out to run, Bolt chatted with the race worker behind his lane, before he stepped into the starting blocks. After the race, he grabbed an Italian flag as he celebrated with another lap around the track that hosted the 1960 Olympics.
“Since I arrived in Rome, I made sure to be in in bed early. So I got a lot of rest and slept a lot,” Bolt said. “In Ostrava, I had not had enough sleep. This race was much better.”
Bolt is also scheduled to compete in a Diamond League meet in Oslo, Norway, next week, before returning to Jamaica for the national trials. He then plans to return to Europe for a 200m in Monaco on July 20, his last race before the Olympic Games start in London a week later.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
RSS