Still making his way along the concertina run up from the track which takes competitors past the world's broadcast media, the 6ft 5in Jamaican was happy to talk to everyone.

And happy to sign shoes and papers.

And happy to do the Lightning Bolt.

In fact, just happy.

After the ignominy of his false start in a 100m which he had prefaced by taking his clowning to new levels – even indicating that those either side of him would not be doing the winning – this was the Bolt he wanted people to remember.

The runner who took the field apart around the bend, then opened up in the straight to turn victory into a rout.


Bolt, it seems, has too much respect for his favourite distance to jape about in it.

Here, as in Beijing and Berlin, where he set his two better times of 19.30 and the world record of 19.19, he ran to the line, grimacing with effort.

And as he crossed it seemed as if he was disappointed not to see an even swifter mark on the trackside board.

"I feel great," said Bolt.

"I wasn't running angry, I was running hard just to say to the fans sorry about the 100 metres.

"I came out here to do my best and to prove to them."

Bolt's reaction time of 0.193sec indicated a relatively cautious getaway – as you might have expected.

But he denied he had been concerned at the blocks.

"I am not in my best shape, but it is all about fun and enjoyment," he said.

"It is good to run a good 200 metres.

It is my favourite event.

"But the fans will decide if I made it up to them."

Walter Dix of the United States took his second silver of these Games as he finished, if not close to Bolt, then at least in the same race in a time of 19.70 as behind him, France's Christophe Lemaitre broke through the 20 seconds barrier for the first time in running a national record of 19.80 after making a late surge past Jaysuma Saidy Ndure of Norway, who finished fourth in 19.95.

On the night, however, Bolt had a rival in terms of athletic excellence in the shape of Sally Pearson (pictured), who produced a superlatively smooth run over the 100m hurdles to claim gold in a championship record of 12.28, making her the fourth fastest of all time.


The Australian had been in the unenviable position of being the athlete of the front cover of the official programme, something which has meant disaster or disappointment for a succession of elite performers such as Steve Hooker (no-heighted) Bolt (false-started), Dayron Robles (disqualified) and the US pair of Allyson Felix and Carmelita Jeter (beaten in the 200m final by Veronica Campbell-Brown).

After her perfect semi-final, which saw her record the equal fifth-best ever time of 12.36 with brutal, metronomic perfection, it seemed there was only one way to go in the final.

But the only way proved to be up, and as Pearson, tears and joy contending in her face, bounded over to her supporters on the bottom bend, not just the usual flag was thrown to her, but also a copy of the programme, which she brandished in triumph.

It was a Bolt-like statement from the Commonwealth champion, who finished five metres clear of the rest of the field, with Danielle Carruthers of the United States taking silver in a personal best of 12.47, and Dawn Harper running Britain's ex-US runner Tiffany Ofili Porter, who had set a national record of 12.56 in the semi-final, into fourth place.

Blanka Vlasic, who had travelled to Daegu bothered by injuries, managed to rise above them in the high jump final as she earned silver with a clearance of 2.03 metres.


Russia's Anna Chicherova (pictured) could do no better, but won on countback.

The men's 1500m gold went to Kenya's Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop, who held off the challenge of his compatriot Silas Kiplagat In a race that began slowly and ended fast.

Kiprop was timed at 3min 35.69, Kiplagat at 3:35.92, and Matthew Centrowitz earned a breakthrough bronze for the United States in 3:36.08.

The javelin title went to 23-year-old German Matthias De Zordo, who earned a rare victory over the defending and Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen.

The German's opening effort of 86.27m proved unbeatable, although the Norwegian secured silver with 84.78m

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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