And yet, on the night, the double Olympic champion was upstaged by his 19-year-old training partner Yohan Blake, who won the Van Damme Memorial meeting's 200 metres in 19.26 – the second fastest time ever behind Bolt's world record of 19.19.

Faster than Michael Johnson's landmark 1996 Olympic time of 19.32.  Faster than Bolt's extraordinary winning time at the 2008 Olympics.

Bolt was still waving to the crowd and signing autographs on the back straight after his race when the man who profited from his blot in Daegu to secure the world 100m title produced his extraordinary effort.

No wonder the senior partner registered a certain amount of shock as he hugged his smaller compatriot.

Blake had spoken on his arrival of wanting to run "the perfect race" here.

A lot of athletes say that sort of thing.

And it probably wasn't technically perfect.

But it was not far off.

"I knew I could do something crazy," Blake said.

"But to be honest I was surprise when I saw the clock at the finishing line.

"This was a perfect controlled race.

"I started slow, and while I'm not a good bend runner I accelerated afterwards.

"Usain stays the best runner, but after tonight I feel I'm capable of breaking the world record over 200 metres.

"I'm looking forward to competing with Usain next season.

"Bolt is always motivating me before the race.

"We call each other 'the Beast' – a real big animal that can do anything."


Despite the final two events on the Diamond League circuit carrying double points, Blake was not in a position to win the Diamond Race Trophy and accompanying $40,000 on offer to 16 athletes on a night when the crowd was also around the 40,000 figure.

He will not be worrying too much about that after such a performance, however.

A week after the first batch of trophies had been claimed at the Zurich Diamond League meeting, the final statistics showed a rapid turnover in that only 11 of the 32 Diamond Races were won by last season's victors.

Interestingly, Blake's reaction time was 0.269, slowest of the field. Had he got away to a sharper start, or perhaps not taken things a little cautiously on the bend, as he said he had afterwards, who knows what time he might have run...

The cash and the trophy went to Walter Dix of the United States, who also had the satisfaction of producing a personal best of 19.53 in second place as he pushed Blake to the line.

It was be a nice counterpoint to last season, when injury prevented the American from contesting the final when he looked poised to win overall.

It may have been at the end of the season, but Kenenisa Bekele announced his return to the heights he has previously occupied in middle distance running as he won a 10,000 metres that was not part of the Diamond League programme in 26min 43.16sec, taking over from the 26:46.57 run by the absent Briton, Mo Farah, at the top of this year's world list.

Farah's training partner Galen Rupp had reason to celebrate, however, earning a hug from coach Alberto Salazar after setting an area record of 26:48.00 in third place behind Lucas Rotich of Kenya, who was also in celebratory mode after running a personal best of 26.43.98 as he chased home the Ethiopian, who had made a trademark break for home 150 metres out, showing all the old cadence and speed of old following his two-year break with injury problems.

It will certainly have given Farah, and the onlooking Salazar, food for thought as they look ahead to Olympic year...

After Blake's flourish, there was a shock of a less happy kind in the 100m hurdles, where Sally Pearson appeared on course to add a Diamond Race Trophy to the world gold she so consummately won in Daegu, only to come to grief at the seventh hurdle as she led the field.

By the time the Australian had risen to her feet and walked away with a sad wave to the crowd, the race – and the Diamond Race – had gone to Danielle Carruthers of the United States, who won in 12.65.

Carmelita Jeter emulated Allyson Felix's achievement of last year as she completed a Diamond Race double, adding the 100m title to the 200m honours she had secured in Zurich the previous week.

Russia's World champion Anna Chicherova had no chance of overtaking Blanka Vlasic in the overall Diamond Race standings, but she finished her season with a winning flourish as the only high jumper to clear 1.99 metres here, and went on to clear 2.02, then 2.05, before having three decent attempts at a world record of 2.10.


It was some end to the season for her.

The women's 1500 metres might have had a sub-title – The Fall and Rise of Morgan Uceny.

Having seen her World Championship ambitions disappear when she was brought down to the track by the stumbling Kenyan, Helen Obiri, the American had a chance to finish 2011 with a happier memory as she came into this event leading the Diamond Race stakes by a two-point margin from the former world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal.

Uceny capitalised in style, powering for home from 150 metres out and passing the long-time leader Mariem Alaoui Selsouli of Morocco as she entered the finishing straight before crossing the line in 4:00.06, the fastest time in the world this year.

"Of course this is a sweet revenge for what happened in Daegu," Uceny said.

"I wanted to show I had to be among the best at those worlds.

"And I did it tonight with a personal best. Next year at the Olympics, one of the medals will be for me!"

Andreas Thorkildsen will not look back on 2011 with great satisfaction.

Having lost his world title to Matthias De Zordo in Daegu, the Norwegian also saw the German deprive him of the Diamond Race Trophy as he won with a personal best of 88.36m.

World 800m champion David Rudisha was unable to break the 14-year-old stadium record of 1:42.20 set by his predecessor as world record holder, Wilson Kipketer.

But the Kenyan secured the Diamond Race Trophy and prize by winning in 1:43.96, never headed by anyone save the pacemaker who dropped out after passing 400m in 49.21.

The 400m hurdles proved to be a race too far for Britain's World champion, Dai Greene.


As in the Daegu final, he cleared the final hurdle trailing Javier Culson.

But on this occasion there was no inexorable charge from the man coached by Malcolm Arnold.

Greene struggled home in second place, clockinig 48.78, as the tall Puerto Rican won in a season's best of 48.32.

The loser won overall, however. Greene's final effort to hold off the pack behind him paid off, literally, as four points for second place earned him the Diamond Race Trophy and accompanying $40,000 with a total of 16 points.

Culson finished with 15 points. Daegu all over again...

Phillips Idowu of Britain did enough to secure his Diamond Race Trophy in the Triple Jump, despite only managing 16.29m to finish in fifth place behind the winner, Benjamin Compaore of France, who achieved a personal best of 17.31.

The experimental "reverse" 400 metres was won by Belgium's Stef Vanhaeren in 47.28sec. "It was a strange race," he said.

"I had only one thought: 'Where is the end?

"'Where is the end?'

"It is hard to judge where exactly the finish line comes."

Where will reverse 400m running end, one wonders?

Probably here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]