Jamaican track star Usain Bolt returned from a hamstring injury to win the 200 meters at the Anniversary Games meet in London on Friday in his last tune-up prior to the Summer Olympics.
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Bolt was forced to withdraw from the Jamaican Olympic trials after tearing his hamstring during the first week of July.
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 need more work but over time I will be fine”. Since I started hurdling at a later age than everyone else, I’ve always just known how to do both.
“It wasn’t flawless. I came off the corner trying to hold my form”. “Taking a bit of time off will be good, but I’ll be around family, so I’ll be happy for that”. I am ready to defend my Olympic titles.
Bolt has backed the International Association of Athletics Federations’ ban of Russia’s track and field athletes following allegations of state-sponsored doping and cover-ups.
Ellington said: “To leave this track on a high puts us on a wicked path going into the Games”. He was still added to the country’s Olympic team (obviously) but hadn’t shown that he was fully healthy since exiting the trials.
“As of right now we’re thinking about that”, Harrison said. I’m glad I could come here, run, finish the race, no injuries.
That saw the 28-year-old record of 12.21 set by Bulgaria’s Yordanka Donkova getting shattered.
Kendra Harrison unfortunately isn’t heading to Rio after competing in the Olympic trials for hurdles. “I want to win the Diamond League overall (this year), and if I do that I can take a break from the 100-meter hurdles until (the world championships) and try to get the record in the 400 hurdles”.
“I’m just blessed to go out there and give it all I have”.
Incredibly, the 23-year-old American will not be going to Rio, after she could only finish in sixth at the USA trials two weeks ago.
“That 12.40 (in the heats earlier on Friday) got my confidence back”.
But she might have gotten some measure of satisfaction for missing Rio by setting the record and beating the trio of USA hurdlers – Brianna Rollins, Kristi Castlin and Nia Ali – who will be in Rio.
However, Bolt said he felt disrespectful and disappointed by the criticism and dismissed the claims by insisting that he has proven himself year after year that he was the greatest, Sport24 reported.
“My coach has been telling me since day one that I had it in me”.
“To get back up after you ran slow, you know, you’ve got to do that and I did that and I’m just really happy”. I didn’t think like that at Trials.
Americans LaShawn Merritt and Justin Gatlin top the 200m list this year with 19.74 and 19.75 seconds respectively. “Fingers crossed I’ll do my best and hopefully we see a medal”.
For the London 2012 heptathlon champion Ennis-Hill, this was ideal preparation ahead of the heptathlon competition.
The best British performance of the night came from Laura Muir, who broke Kelly Holmes’ national 1500m record with a hugely impressive run.
“I’m definitely feeling good”.
“I felt rusty after running 12.9 in the semis”, she said.
The Scot powered well clear of the field to come home in 3:57.49, winning by more than three seconds and eclipsing double Olympic champion Holmes’ mark of 3:57.90 from the Athens Olympics in 2004.
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In the absence of Bolt, who focused on the 200m instead, the men’s 100m went to the Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut.
