Bolt Runs Away With World 200m Gold

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Written By Gholam Rahmani

Sprint legend Usain Bolt sped ahead of rival Justin Gaitlin to take the big head-to-head 200m World Championship gold in Beijing.

A ferocious late burst of speed left Gaitlin struggling to keep up with Bolt, who led from the gun.

Defending the 200m title after already taking the 100m crown, Jamaican Bolt cemented his place as a legend by retaining both World Championship titles.

The 200m was billed as must-win for American Gaitlin, who has failed to fulfil early promise in his career which was then mired in controversy over substance-enhanced performances.

If he was to beat Bolt, this was the race, but to be fair he was off the pace and never really threatened the champion who has dominated the blue-riband sprints in recent years.

Gold tally mounts up

Living up to his big personality, Bolt led from the front and as they came off the bend, Gaitlin was matching him stride for stride.

But Bolt, now aged 29, is a powerful star athlete who always seems to have pace in reserve. He stepped on the accelerator and pulled away to win by a significant margin.

The clock showed a winning time of 19.56 seconds, which was well outside the world record of 19.19 seconds, which was set by Bolt at the 2009 World Championships.

Bolt has now won 10 gold medals at the World Championships to add to his six Olympic and one Commonwealth Games gold medals

“I was most confident that I would win. I believed I would win and my coach was confident, making me super confident,” he said after the race.

“I’m still number one and had no doubt I would win.”

Fastest time

After the race, Bolt stumbled and fell over a cameraman while celebrating his victory.

“I don’t know what happened there, he was trying to kill me I think,” said Bolt.

In the 200m, Gaitlin ran 19.74 seconds, Anaso Jobodwana of South Africa, took bronze with a time of 19.87 seconds.

Scientists have reviewed his performances up to the World Championships  and have worked out his average racing speed is 23.72 mph, with a peak of 27.79 mph in split times when he set his former 100m world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100m at the Berlin World Championships in  2009.