(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt fired to victory in the 100m in Ostrava yesterday in a modest 10.06 seconds, in what was his first appearance in Europe in his farewell season.
'I love this crowd's high energy. That's why I come back here. I love you, said Bolt, in his ninth appearance in the northeastern Czech city.
'I'm not happy with the time, but I'm getting into it.
Bolt, winner of eight Olympic and 11 world gold medals, will bring down the curtain on his glittering career at August's world championships in London.
He again proved to have not lost any of his showman's charisma as he played to the sell-out 15,000-capacity crowd at the Mestsky Stadium when introduced in hot, humid weather.
The field was a kind one for Bolt, only Jak Ali Harvey, previously of Jamaica but now representing Turkey, having gone below 10sec.
Starting in lane five, Bolt was somewhat tardy in getting up and out of the blocks, the 100 and 200m world record holder easily matched by Cuban Yunier Perez outside him over the opening half of the race.
As the crowd roared, so Bolt responded as he has so many times before, moving into his famed 'drive phase, head coming slowly up as part of the process that unleashes the full power from his long legs.
For a flash moment, Perez looked like he might have had the better of the towering Jamaican, but it was not to be as Bolt powered home with a knowing look across to the Cuban from 20 metres out.
Bolt ripped through the finish line, eyes glued on the stadium's big screen at the end of the 100m track.
Perez came in second in a personal best of 10.09sec, with Bolt's winning time far off his world record of 9.58sec, set back at the Berlin world championships in 2009.
The Jamaican has consistently been a beacon for clean athletes amid doping and corruption scandals that mired Sebastian Coe's first couple of years in office as IAAF president.
His absence from the sport will leave a void that will be tough to fill, as shown by the hero's send-off he was afforded by the Ostrava crowd after the Jamaican anthem was played.
World record for van Niekerk
Wayde van Niekerk had promised to get 'ridiculous and he did just that when sprinting to a world record in the rarely-run 300m yesterday.
The 24-year-old raced home at the Golden Spike meet at the Mestsky Stadium in the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava in an outstanding 30.81 seconds.
The previous world record of 30.85sec was set at altitude in Pretoria in 2000 by American Michael Johnson.
It was the second time the 24-year-old South African has usurped Johnson, having broken his 17-year-old 400m world record when racing to victory at last year's Rio Olympics.
Van Niekerk's time also shattered the meet record of 30.97sec — previously the second fastest time every run — set by Jamaican sprint star Bolt in 2010.
'I'm so pleased and grateful for this big achievement, said Van Niekerk, whose first professional appearance on the IAAF circuit was over 400m at Ostrava.
'Thanks to all the people of Ostrava for this wonderful meeting. I'm honoured to be a small part of history.
'I have to rest a little but after that I hope I can continue to make babysteps to be better day by day.
Van Niekerk will aim to double up in the August 4-13 World Athletics Championships, in the 200 and 400m, meaning a packed racing programme of six back-to-back days of competition.
'There's still a lot of work to be done, he insisted.
'This world record is a blessing. It's a massive confidence booster, he acknowledged, dubbing it an 'honour to twice better Johnson.
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