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Usain Bolt anchored Jamaica to a 4x100 metres relay title defence in world record time and Caster Semenya was the happiest silver medallist as the 13th world athletics championships closed yesterday.
Bolt, who redeemed himself for a 100m false start disqualification with an emphatic 200m triumph Saturday, provided the fireworks on the track with his team-mates before some more lit the Korean skies during the closing ceremony.
Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, 100m champion Yohan Blake and Bolt roared around the track in 37.04 seconds, lowering their mark of 37.10 from the Beijing Olympics for the only world record of the 2011 meet, and then engaged in some wild celebrations which brought the house down. Semenya beamed in delight after a return to the big stage from a gender controversy following the 2009 title in second place, beaten only on the home stretch by Russian favourite Mariya Savinova.
“Winning the silver is really a present for me. I feel great,” said Semenya, who later did not want to discuss her ordeal of 2009 and 2010.
Briton Mo Farah delivered this time around for the 5,000 metres world title, Kenya’s Abel Kirui repeated the marathon title, the US got two golds from triple jumper Christian Taylor the women’s 4x100m relay, and Russia also got a second title on the day from hammer thrower Tatyana Lysenko.
The US topped the final medal table after 47 events with 12 gold eight silver and five bronze from Russia (9-4-6) and surprise package Kenya (7-6-4).
Jamaica followed on 4-4-1 after the latest heroics from Bolt with a little help of his team-mates. France were a distant second in 38.20 seconds and St Kitts and Nevis took bronze in 38.49.
It definitely helped the Jamaican cause that the US team met disaster yet again when Darvis Patton clipped a British athlete and fell ahead of the third exchange, with the British team also out as a result.
Having dropped the baton in the heats of the 2008 Olympics and 2009 worlds, there is yet to be a full relay race between the big rivals in the Bolt era.
“For me it was just to go out there and run fast. I am proud of my team,” said Bolt.
So was Semenya, of herself, in an astonishing return from a two-year ordeal since the news broke hours ahead of the 2009 final that the ruling body IAAF had ordered her to undergo a gender test over her rapid improvement and masculine appearance, and wasn’t cleared to run again until 13 months ago.
“It wasn’t easy but I had great support. Now I feel good, now I go back to training to run a personal best and expect a world record,” she said.
“I can’t talk about what has happened. Everybody knows. I just want to leave it like that.”
Savinova lived up to her top billing and won in a 2011 world best 1:55.87 minutes. Semenya had a season-best 1:56.35 to add silver to the 2009 gold and Kenya’s Janeth Jepkosgei completed her set of medals with bronze in 1:57.42, to go with 2007 gold and 2009 silver. The Briton Farah led the way into the home stretch and fought off a furious challenge from 2007 champion Bernard Lagat of the US to get Europe’s first gold in the event since Ireland’s Eamonn Coughlan won the first edition in 1983.
The Somali-born Farah, who was pipped by Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia in the 10,000, won in 13:23.36 minutes, the second Daegu gold for the 2012 Olympics hosts. Lagat took silver as in 2009 in 13:23.64 while the initial bronze medallist Imane Merga was disqualified for running outside the track and compatriot Dejen Gebremeskel taking third instead.
Kenya finished off the podium in that race but Kirui earlier broke a four-man leader group after 28 kilometres to get marathon gold in 2:07:38 hours from compatriot Vincent Kipruto and Ethiopian Feyisa Lilesa with the biggest winning margin of 2.28 minutes at the worlds.