USA athlete Kendra Harrison broke the 100m hurdles world record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London, clocking 12.20 (0.3m/s) on Friday night.
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Panama’s Edward Alonso came in second with a time of 20.04 with Briton Adam Gemili finishing third in a time of 20.07 seconds.
Bolt, who remains undefeated in this stadium in East London, is confident he can iron out any glitches with his cornering in his favourite discipline.
“I’m getting there”, Bolt said after the race. I thought the cornering wasn’t ideal.
It was only good enough for fifth place as Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas took victory in a world-leading 49.55.
As Asher-Smith, who ran the third leg, put it: “I was watching Daryll down the last 100m”. The main thing is I am injury free.
“I love the crowd, I love the people and I enjoy what I do”. “It’s always a great fun at this stadium”.
The soon-to-be 30 Bolt did what he does the best – winning.
“You want to be running your fastest times in Rio”.
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt marked his return to competition by winning the 200 meters at the London Diamond League, where Spaniard Bruno Hortelano finished fourth to better his own national record.
After Harrison and Muir, it was time for the star attraction of the night: Bolt.
“I came out here with a lot of vengeance”.
The 23-year-old Harrison obliterated a world-class field and the Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova’s 100m hurdles world record which had stood for 28 years.
“That 12.40 (in the heats earlier on Friday) got my confidence back”. It wasn’t the best of my best but it was my first one (of the year), so I’m cool with that. “I have to keep that belief every day that I can go out there and win the gold. I’ll give it my best shot and, whatever position that gets me to, hopefully everyone’s entertained and happy”.
Not in Rio meanwhile will be Harrison because she came only sixth in the U.S. trials 100m hurdles, and only the top three qualified.
“We have the toughest trials in America”, Rodgers said.
Bolt added: “You never know what will make me continue but I’m also going to take it a year at a time and we’ll see how I feel and if I can motivate myself to go one more year, why not?”
“I don’t think there’s a risk”, I did it in college and did both well.
Former world champion Tyson Gay described the injury scares as a “tradition”, while Justin Gatlin said it was all part of the “crazy stuff” of an Olympic year.
For the London 2012 heptathlon champion Ennis-Hill, this was ideal preparation ahead of the heptathlon competition. “He’s an Olympic gold medalist, defended it, a world record-holder”.
“I felt rusty after running 12.9 in the semis”, she said.
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France’s Jimmy Vicaut won the men’s 100m in 10.02.
