Bolt had opened his season with a timing of 9.82 at the Jamaica Invitational meeting, but had struggled to victory in a relatively slow 10.04 in a wet and blowy Ostrava just under a week before taking to the track in the Olympic Stadium, watched by a crowd of 60,000.

Bolt picked up momentum to finish clear of his friend and compatriot Asafa Powell, who clocked 9.91, with Christophe Lemaitre of France third in 10.04.

Bolt's time in the Compeed Golden Gala was a meeting record by 0.01.

Before returning to the inner arena to entertain the crowd with an eccentric dancing display, Bolt said: "Since I arrived in Rome I made sure to be in bed early so I got a lot of rest and slept a lot.

"The race was much better than in Ostrava.

"The execution was not perfect but improved.


"I executed well.

"My drive was better and I started well.

"The transition was also better."

Bolt knowing he has his doubters, added: "After Ostrava a lot of people questioned me, but I never questioned myself.

"I am just happy with myself."

In the men's 3,000m steeplechase, Paul Koech, who was surprisingly left out of last year's Kenyan team for the World Championships, won in 7min 54.31sec – the third fastest time ever.

Koech's effort has only been bettered by Saif Saaeed Shaheen's eight-year-old world record of 7:53.63 and Brimin Kipruto's mark which was only 0.01 slower than that in Monaco last summer.

Twenty-one-year old Abeba Aregawi (pictured below, far right) whose 2011 summer season was curtailed after four out of four wins on the indoor circuit showed her vast future potential in winning over 1500m in a 2012 world lead of 3:56.54 – an Ethiopian national and meeting record.


Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot, the world 5,000m and 10,000m champion, held off arch rival Meseret Defar by just 0.03 in the 5000m, winning in a world leading time of 14:35.62.

The Kenyan and Ethiopian pair had fought a similar battle which went to the wire over 3,000m at the SDL Doha meet, but this one was even closer as they build up to the fast approaching Olympic Games.

Britain's Robbie Grabarz won the high jump with a world lead and personal best clearance of 2.33 metres, a height he reached without any failures.

The 24-year-old Briton, whose previous best was four centimetres lower, lifted himself to new heights as he beat a field which included all of last year's World Championship medallists.

In her first competition since winning the World Indoor Championship gold medal, New Zealand's Valerie Adams had no problems in the women's shot put, winning with a world lead and meeting record of 21.03m.

The Czech Republic's Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova (pictured below), beaten into second place by Russia's world gold medallist Mariya Abakamova at the opening SDL meet in Doha, appeared to have the javelin title tied up, moving from fifth to top position with an effort of 65.54m in the fifth round.


However, South Africa's world bronze medallist Sunette Viljoen stunned the field when with her last attempt created a world lead of 67.95m.

The 30-year-old Spotakova, who had set the previous world lead of 67.78m six days earlier in Ostrava, regained it with a mighty effort of 68.65m.

Britain's Goldie Sayers, who led for the first four rounds, was relegated to third with a season's best of 64.73m while Abakumova could only manage fifth place with a best effort of just 62.00m.

Teenager Fantu Magiso produced the biggest upset of the night as she won a talent-rich women's 800m – which included two former world champions in Janeth Jepkosgei and Caster Semenya from Kenya and South Africa respectively, and Russia's current world champion Mariya Savinova and current Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo, another Kenyan – in an Ethiopian record of 1:57.56.

There was another field event success for Great Britain when Greg Rutherford, with his last attempt, produced a long jump of 8.32m to win ahead of Olympic silver medallist Godfrey Mokoena, of South Africa.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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