False start fellsbaffled Bolt in100m finalFalse start fellsbaffled Bolt in100m final

False start fells
baffled Bolt in
100m final
Michael Gleeson
August 29, 2011 - 12:49AM
DAEGU, South Korea: Usain
Bolt is no longer the world
100 metre sprint
champion after being the
agent of his own
misfortune, dramatically
jumping the start and
being disqualified in the
final to defend his world
title.
Bolt normally knows
sooner than others when
he will win. Last night he
knew before all others he
had lost. The Olympic
sprint champion and
world record holder
threw his head back
almost the moment the
second gun sounded for
the false start knowing
he was gone and ripped
the singlet from his back
and threw it to the
ground, aware that he
had thrown away his
chance of another sweep
of the world sprint titles.
The Jamaican made his
way to the back of the
track looking to the sky in
disbelief then trying to
bury his face in the blue
walls, for once trying to
find somewhere to hide
on a track he normally
claims as his own.
With Bolt out of the race,
his countryman, Yohan
Blake, claimed the title in
9.92 seconds from
American Walter Dix
second (10.08) and Kim
Collins third (10.09).
Blake was the only
person to run under 10
seconds throughout the
championships, so his
credentials were
impeccable. Bolt was the
man to beat and without
him there was no one to
stand in Blake's way.
Bolt came to Daegu
wanting to establish his
name as a legend, if he
had not done so already.
Last night does not
diminish his likelihood of
claiming a place alongside
the all-time greats, but it
adds to the drama that
the showman already
brings to the track.
The world's quickest man
had not been the fastest
man this year, and now
he is no longer world
champion. IAAF events,
including the world
championships, operate
on a one-strike policy for
false starts.
Bolt had been the reigning
world and Olympic
champion in three sprints
but now he can only
defend two of those
titles. Failing another
brain snap on the blocks,
he should yet seize the
200m and 4 x 100m, given
the form of his
teammates, Blake, Nesta
Carter and Michael Frater.
It was already a depleted
field before Bolt's
dramatic removal. The
three men who had been
quicker than him were all
already missing through
injury or failed drug tests.
Bolt's countryman, Asafa
Powell, who had recorded
the quickest time this
year, was a late
withdrawal from the
championships with a
groin injury. That
seriously dampened the
quality of the field
already missing American
Tyson Gay, the second
quickest this year, who
was also injured, and
Jamaican Steve Mullings,
the third quickest.
Mullings and American
Michael Rodgers were
missing after failed drugs
tests.
The opposition was
plainly not as strong as it
could have been even
before Bolt's
disqualification but his
removal will provide a
footnote to the new
champion's achievement.
Englishman Dwain
Chambers, who had
previously served a two-
year ban for testing
positive to steroids, had
already endured a similar
fate to Bolt, also jumping
the gun and being
immediately eliminated in
the semi-finals. Chambers
initially appeared
reluctant to accept the
ruling.
Powell withdrew from
Daegu with a groin injury,
worried that competing
might jeopardise his plans
for the London Olympics
next year. ''It's a very
strong field so I can't go
out there with pain and
finish way back in the
field and maybe not be
able to be back for next
year,'' he said. ''I just
couldn't risk that.''
This story was found at:
http://www.smh.com.au/
sport/athletics/false-
start-fells-baffled-bolt-
in-100m-
final-20110828-1jgk2.html