Bolt completes fourth major double

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt poses for the photographers after winning the 200 metres final at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow yesterday. (AFP)

DPA/Moscow

Usain Bolt captured a fourth major event sprint double when the Jamaican superstar stormed to a third straight 200 metres world title yesterday.

Bolt won his seventh overall world title in 19.66 seconds from countryman Warren Weir before the two danced to reggae music on their victory lap.

The 26-year-old Bolt can complete a treble, as at the 2009 worlds, and 2008 and 2012 Olympics, with victory in the 4x100m relay today.

Bolt’s latest 200m triumph was never in danger but he also stayed far above his world record 19.19 seconds in cool conditions in the Luzhniki.

He came out of the bend with a solid lead while Weir lowered his personal best to 19.79 in his slipstream for silver. Curtis Mitchell took bronze for the US in 20.04m.

Jamaica now lead rivals US 4-0 in the sprints going into Sunday’s relays, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce getting the women’s double.

Meseret Defar added yet another global 5,000 metres gold to her bulging collection when she won the world title with a textbook performance yesterday, aided by her Ethiopian team mates.

Defar, twice Olympic champion and now double world champion, also has a world silver and three global bronzes in the event after an extraordinarily consistent run over the past nine years and she was never threatened in her latest assault.

A pedestrian first half of the race briefly suggested some of the fast-finishers might be able to make a fight of it but with four laps to go Defar’s team mate Almaz Ayana put her foot down and immediately spread the field.

By the bell it was just the two Ethiopians and Kenya’s Mercy Cherono and Ayana played her role of domestique to perfection, towing Defar to the 200m mark when the favourite blasted clear to win with ease in 14 minutes 50.19 seconds.

Cherono came on to take silver in 14.51.22 ahead of Ayana (14.51.33).

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba won the 10,000 metres earlier in the week.

The season leader American Brianna Rollins overcame a terrible start to top the hurdles in 12.44 from Australian holder and Olympic champion Sally Pearson, who had a 2013 best in an injury-marred year. Briton Tiffany Porter got bronze.

The European champion Vitezslav Vesely of Czech Republic had 87.17m on his opening which turned out to be the winner, although the 2007 winner Tero Pitkamaki of Finland came very close with 87.07m for silver. Russia’s Dmitri Tarabin salvaged bronze on his last attempt.

The 14th world championships conclude today with the men’s 1,500m, 4x100m and triple jump, and the women’s 800m, 4x100m and javelin.