No stopping Bolt
August 29, 2015Usain Bolt powered his Jamaican team to the men's 4x100-meter relay title in 37.36 seconds at the world championships in the Chinese capital. The United States finished second with a time of 37.77, but were disqualified for a late baton change. So hosts China stole a surprise silver, clocking 38.01 seconds, ahead of Canada's 38.13 bronze time.
The 29-year-old Bolt, who had already won the 100 and 200 meters events, ran the anchor leg as the Jamaicans put in a dominant performance at the Bird's Nest Stadium. Bolt joined teammates Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Nickel Ashmeade in clinching a sixth consecutive major global title. It's Bolt's third triple gold at world championships in a row. He has now won 17 of 18 world and Olympic gold medals since 2008.
Before the men's event, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce anchored a Jamaica team that recorded the second-fastest time in history of the women's 4x100-meter relay: 41.07 seconds. The United States took silver in 41.68 seconds, with Trinidad and Tobago collecting bronze and set a national record of 42.03.
Farah roars again
Britain's Mo Farah turnd on the jets on the final turn and stormed down the home stretch to retain his 5,000 meters world title. It was his unprecedented third successive distance double at major global championships.
The 32-year-old Olympic champion, who won the 10,000m last weekend, clocked a time of 13 minutes 50.38 seconds. It was Farah's seventh successive major distance crown since winning the 5000m at the 2011 world championships.
Elsewhere, Olympic champion Ashton Eaton of the United States set a world record in the decathlon. Eaton threw a season's best 63.63 metres in the javelin before clocking four minutes, 17.52 seconds in the 1500m to finish with a new world best total of 9,045 points, eclipsing his previous mark by six points. Also, Poland's Piotr Malachowski finally broke through for world discus gold with a throw of 67.40 metres.
apc/jc (AP, AFP)