At Thursday's Athletissima Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, the first major international competition since the 2012 Summer Olympics, Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt once again stole the show on the track. Blake won the men's 100 meters in a blistering 9.69 seconds, while Bolt cruised to a win in the 200m.
Blake's 9.69 time is faster than what he ran in London earlier this month (9.75; Bolt won gold with a 9.63), and ties him with American Tyson Gay for the title of the second-fastest human ever -- only Bolt has ever run faster than their 9.69 (and he's done it twice). Here's video of Blake's historic run:
The top-five fastest 100m runs now looks like this:
- Bolt, 9.58
- Bolt, 9.63
- Bolt, 9.69
- Blake, 9.69
- Gay 9.69
Gay finished second Thursday night, running a 9.83 (he ran a 9.80 in London to finish fourth). Jamaican Nesta Carter was third and Ryan Bailey of the U.S. was fourth.
In the 200m, Bolt, the two-time defending Olympics gold medalist, won easily, crossing the line in 19.58 seconds (0.26 seconds behind his London time). He may have been slow by his standards, but it still set a new meet record:
American Wallace Spearmon finished in sixth place, with a time of 20.10, while the top three all went under 20 seconds.
Elsewhere at Thursday's meet, the women's 100m was won by the United States' Carmelita Jeter, who edged Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in a photo finish -- both women finished in 10.86 seconds. Dawn Harper, the silver medalist from London, led an American sweep in the women's 100m hurdles, with Queen Harrison second and Virginia Crawford in third place. Kirani James (Grenada) won the men's 400m.
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