For Bolt, the time was respectable rather than spectacular, but he maintained that he felt better than he had in the Olympic Stadium, where he was racing for the first time since being beaten by Tyson Gay at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting last August.

"I felt better in this race, and that's a good sign, like I'm actually running again, so that's a really good sign," Bolt said after breaking clear of the world-leader, fellow Jamaican Steve Mullings, after the halfway point.

"I had a good first 50 metres and as long as I get to 50 metres first, I'm not going to let you pass me.

"I think people are expecting me to run extremely fast.

"But you need to remember that this is only my second race in nine or ten months.

"I can't just come out and run 9.8 or 9.7, it's just not going to happen.

"I'm probably not going to start running fast until late July."

Bolt welcomed the sunny conditions, which were in contrast to the rain he experienced last year as he narrowly failed to beat Michael Johnson's world 300m record and finished the night with an Achilles tendon problem.

He later tweeted: "Talk with the coach, say I am looking good and he's got the plan ready.

"Patience."


While Bolt's result was expected, the highlight of the 50th anniversary Ostrava meeting proved to be the 100m performance of his compatriot, Veronica Campbell-Brown.

The double Olympic 200m champion won in a world-leading time of 10.76, which was o.02sec faster than her previous best, set last year, and enough to establish her alongside former Olympic champion Evelyn Ashford as the eighth fastest woman of all time.

"It was a surprise [when I saw the time]," said Campbell-Brown, also the 2007 world champion over the distance.

"My goal was to run faster than 10.92."

South Africa;s LJ van Zyl equalled his world-leading performance of 47.66 in the 400m hurdles, with Britain's European champion David Greene second in 48.47.

Cuba's Dayron Robles returned to the scene of his 2008 world 110m hurdles record of 12.87, and won in 13.14, 0.07sec slower than he had recorded in Hengelo on Sunday (May 29).

Mariya Abakumova defeated the Olympic javelin champion Barbora Spotakova on home ground, the Russian producing a best of 65.81m to defeat the Czech Republic thrower, whose best was 64.78.

In the women's 400m, American Francena McCorory held off world champion Sanya Richards-Ross and Czech Denisa Rosolova down the final straight to earn her first international win in 50.64.

She clocked a personal best 50.84 ahead of the 50.99 for Richards-Ross.

Britain's former Olympic bronze medallist heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, now concentrating her energies on single lap running, was sixth in 52.59.

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