Bolt's sublime confidence in his ability to run the 200 metres better than anyone else turned out to be fully justified as the elements drummed down in the Bislett Stadium.

He completed his first long sprint for 13 months in a time of 19.86sec, finishing easily clear of his nearest challenger in the fifth of this season's Samsung Diamond League meetings, home runner Jaysuma Ndure.

But Bolt, whose two other 100m races this season have seen him win in 9.91, relatively ordinary for the man with a 9.58 to his credit, happily batted away the suggestion after the Exxon Mobil Bislett Games were over that he was "back in business."

"I've never been out of business," he said with a grin after completing a long, wet lap of honour which appeared to have taken more out of him than his watery run.

"I think business was just slow.

"I think people expect too much of me.

"I'm only human.

"I'm taking steps to get back to my best.

"I'm feeling good.

"I'm going to get there.

"I've got two-and-a-half months until the World Championships so now I am going to go back home and get back to work and I am going to try and stay injury free.

"That's the key."

Bolt's galloping performance produced the third and final world-leading mark of a meeting that began in drifting rain and ended in a steady downpour, with the other high points being provided by Morocco's Halima Hachlaf, who recorded 1min 58.27sec in beating an 800ms field, which included world champion Caster Semenya and Paul Kipsiele Koech, who turned from a would-be pacemaker into a winner in the 3,000m steeplechase, crossing the line in 8:01.83.

For the crowd who had sat so patiently in the rain, the Jamaican's performance, and indeed his generous and slow tour of the stadium afterwards, clad in a blue waterproof cagoule which shone under the lights, made the waiting worthwhile.

"It was a good race," he concluded, after finishing oceans clear of Ndure, who clocked 20.43, and his training partner Mario Forsythe, who recorded 20.49.

"I'm glad I came out of it injury-free.

"I'm back to being Usain Bolt.

"I'm not perfect, but I'm getting there."


Bolt will now go back and discuss his race with coach Glen Mills, before deciding whether he needs to race again at the Jamaican national trials.

Given his wild card status for Daegu as a defending champion, such a commitment is not mandatory, and it seems more likely that he will stick with his current schedule of racing three more times before going to Korea.

Asked about Tyson Gay's reported decision not to contest the 200m this year, Bolt responded: "I think Tyson is looking after a really bad groin injury.

"I thought that was why he wasn't doing any 200s this year.

"But it's never about one person.

"If you concentrate on one person, someone else may sneak up on you."

He added that he felt easier in Oslo than he had in Ostrava, where he had run his last race, over 100m.

"I felt more relaxed today," said Bolt

"The 100 metres was a little bit intense.

"There I need the speed, but in the 200 metres I know it is more about technique and execution."

The Bolt effect worked wonders for this Samsung Diamond League meeting in terms of ticket sales - all 14,800 seats were reported sold out three days before the competition began.

But even Bolt could do nothing about the elements.

Despite her defeat, Semenya was satisfied at running faster than she had in Eugene five days earlier.

The South African, who had allowed herself to get forced into an outside lane on Sunday, appeared to have got her race plan sorted out here as she moved away from Britain's Jenny Meadows around the final bend to lead into the straight.

But as Meadows faded, Russia's European champion Mariya Savinova moved past Semenya with 50 metres remaining, and with 10 metres remaining, Morocco's Halima Hachlaf came past the Russian on the outside to win in a world-leading 1:58.27.


Savinova was second in a season's best of 1:58.44 and Semenya third in 1:58.61.

"My coach told me I should be brave and go into the front and try for a fast time," Semenya said.

"And I fulfilled it and I'm satisfied with my time.

"Now I'm improving with every race and I think I can be later in the season much better than today."

By the time the Exxon Dream Mile got underway the drifting rain that had hindered the throwers in the early part of the meeting had returned, more heavily.

It was the tall, lean figure of Kenya's Olympic 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop who weathered the conditions best, coming through with a final burst in the last 10 metres to take the win in 3:50.86 ahead of his compatriot Haron Keitany, who had beaten him five days earlier in Eugene in setting the world-leading time of 3:49.09.02.

Drenched Oslo rather than sunny Eugene saw Keitany register a time of 3:51.02, with Ethiopia's Mekonnen Gebremedh in third in 3:51.30.

Late entrant Mohammed Shaween of Saudi Arabia was pleased he had made the trip as he finished fourth in a national record of 3:52.00.

The downpour had started properly during the women's 5000m, where Ethiopia's former world champion Meseret Defar returned to the scene of one of her greatest achievements, when she took eight seconds off her then world record in 2007 of 14:16.63.

The weather precluded a time approaching that in a race that was effectively an Ethiopian 400 metres challenge as Defar and four of her compatriots lined up for a charge around the last lap, with Defar recording a split of just over 60 seconds to finish first in a season's best of 14:37.32, just ahead of Sentayehu Ejigu, who clocked 14:37.50, and Genzebe Dibaba - younger sister of the absent world record holder Tirunesh - who earned a personal best of 14:37.56.

Paul Kipsiele Koech, the only man in the 3,000m steeplechase field to have run under eight minutes - something he had achieved eight times - almost made it nine as he held a clear lead over the last two laps before finishing in a world-leading 8:01.83, a time which was also a meeting record.

His Kenyan team mate Brimin Kipruto, the Olympic champion, took second place in 8:05.40, with Ethiopia's Roba Gary recording a season's best of 8:10.41 in third place.

France's European champion Mahiedine Mekhissi, who had been targeting the European record of 8:01.13, finished a disconsolate fourth in 8:14.38.

"I wanted to push the pace and help the others," said Koech.

"They spoke about the European record.

"But then nobody followed me so I used my shape and was pushing alone."

With many of the world's leading female 100m runners preparing across the Atlantic for the 200m in Saturday's (June 11) Samsung Diamond League meeting in New York, Ivet Lalova took her chance of earning maximum Diamond League points in the short sprint.

The Bulgarian was the only woman in the field to have broken 11 seconds – her personal best stands at 10.77 – and she finished more than a tenth of a second clear in a season's best of 11.01c despite the damp conditions.

The result will move Lalova closer to the territory she inhabited seven years ago, when she was fourth in the 2004 Olympics, before she broke her leg in a freak accident while warming up for a meeting in Athens - an injury that required seven operations.

"It was a long way back before I was able to run fast times again," said Lalova.

"The most important thing is that I'm healthy and I've made some changes in my life.

"I train most of the time now in Rieti with Italian coach Roberto Bonomi.

"I missed the start today but executed well at the end."

Germany's Verena Sailer, who set her best of 11.10 in winning last year's European title in Barcelona, never recovered after making a poor start and finished seventh in 11.46.

Olesa Povh of Ukraine took second place in a season's best of 11.14, with Norway's Ezinne Okparaebo third in 11.17 - also a season's best.

Valerie Adams made an emphatic debut in this season's Samsung Diamond League as she earned victory over a shot put field that included the overwhelming Diamond Race winner of last year, Nadezhda Ostapchuk, producing the four best efforts of the competition, the best of which was her fourth round of 20.26 metres.


After fouling with her first attempt, New Zealand's world and Olympic champion took the lead with 20.14 and was never seriously challenged as Ostapchuk was unable to reach beyond the 20 metres barrier.

Adams added efforts of 20.10 and 20.17 before slipping off the 20m standard with a last throw of 19.90.

The smaller, powerful figure of Ostapchuk had paced impatiently before going into the circle for her last attempt, but although her delivery had its usual snap, the usual distance was missing the Belorussian, who produced a world-leading 20.59 in Sunday's Samsung Diamond League meeting in Eugene, had to settle here for 19.92.

China's Lijiao Gong was third with 19.57 in a competition that saw competitors sheltering for long periods from the drifting rain under umbrellas.

"It was a little bit slippery and I was a little bit rusty but all is OK," said Adams.

"In my first Diamond League I beat all the main opponents, so the feelings are very positive.

"That was a really good start for me."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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