A Wrexham girl was picked from a crowd by Usain Bolt in the London Olympic Stadium and given his running spikes following his victory in the 200m Anniversary Games race yesterday.
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She said: “I knew I was in really good shape but I wanted to do it justice”.
Alonso Edward was second and Adam Gemili third.
The hamstring concern which caused his withdrawal from the Jamaican Olympic trials meant Bolt still had to convince the selectors that all was okay with their sprint superstar.
Bolt appeared satisfied rather than elated after a victory that has established him fifth in the 2016 world lists behind the 19.74sec run by former world and Olympic 400m champion LaShawn Merritt at the US Olympic trials, and the 19.75 also run at the US trials by world silver medallist Justin Gatlin.
Bolt, who turns 30 next month, said: “I thought it wasn’t flawless”.
“I can tell I’m not in really top shape”.
“I’m feeling good, been training good, I’m happy with where I am”, the 29-year-old said.
Harrison broke a 28-year-old world record in the women’s 100m hurdles, crossing the line in an astonishing 12.20 seconds.
Meanwhile, Usain Bolt retrned from injury with 19.89 seconds in the men’s 200 metres.
It is not often that Usain Bolt is upstaged.
Bolt has previously suggested he will retire after the 2017 World Championships and he predicts it could be a while before sport sees another athlete as quick as he. London saved some of its love and affection for Jessica Ennis-Hill at the venue where she won her heptathlon gold medal on Super Saturday four years ago. None of the top three from last week – including Olympic favourite Caster Semenya – will take part in London.
With the temperature a cosy 23C for most of the evening and the stadium’s track relaid with the same fast Mondo track that will be used in Rio, conditions were ideal for running.
“I felt it was a joke”, Bolt said. That knocked almost half a second off Holmes’ mark, set when she won Olympic gold in Athens in 2004. “It’s great to have”.
“Amazing run”, tweeted Holmes. “Records are there to be broken“.
Reigning Olympic and two-time world champion Christian Taylor made the most of his final tune-up before Rio by winning the men’s triple jump with a world-leading effort of 17.78 meters, bettering his own season best of 17.76 meters from the Olympic Trials.
That run, which was also a world lead and a meeting record, sets them up perfectly for a tilt at a medal in Rio in two weeks’ time.
After winning the 200 at the Anniversary Games, his sole focus is now Rio where he will lock horns with rival Gatlin, who won both the 100 and 200 at the U.S. Olympic trials with times of 9.8 and 19.75 seconds, respectively.
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