Bolt runs 19.66s, Blake runs 9.76s in Zurich...30th Aug 2012

At a Diamond League meeting in Zurich on Thursday evening, Usain Bolt won the 200m race in an impressive 19.66 seconds. In cold and wet conditions, Bolt coasted home over the last 50 metres and never looked in danger of losing. While the time was well outside his 200m record, it was still the joint 18th fastest 200m time ever.




 In the 100m, Yohan Blake continued his fine form by winning in 9.76 seconds...

This was the joint 12th fastest time ever. Tyson Gay was disqualified a false start.

In the mens 800m, the Olympic champion and world record holder was beaten into a suprising second place over the last 100m despite leading for most of the race....

(Non English Commentary)

Post race, Ruhisha said..."My legs felt tired and I cannot run good if the weather is not good," Rudisha said. "I hoped for a fast race here and I'm a little disappointed."

Yohan Blake runs 9.69s in Lausanne...

Last Thursday evening (23rd Aug 2012) at the IAAF Diamond League meeting at Lausanne in Switzerland, Yohan Blake of Jamaica became only the third man ever to run under 9.7 seconds in the mens 100m. His time of 9.69 seconds equaled the time of Tyson Gay although Gay did have a slight following wind in his favour.


Fastest five 100m times ever...
1      9.58       +0.9    Usain Bolt   JAM     21.08.86    Berlin      16.08.2009
2      9.63       +1.5    Usain Bolt   JAM     21.08.86    London    05.08.2012
3      9.69       ±0.0    Usain Bolt    JAM     21.08.86   Beijing    16.08.2008
3      9.69       +2.0    Tyson Gay    USA     09.08.82   Shanghai    20.09.2009
3      9.69       -0.1    Yohan Blake  JAM     26.12.89   Lausanne    23.08.2012

The only person to have run faster was of course Usain Bolt. It's an amazing time considering that the 9.8 second barrier was only broken for the first time back in 1999 by Maurice Greene of the USA and Blake's time is a full one tenth of a second faster.

At the same meeting, Usain Bolt won the 200m in 19.58 seconds. While this is well slower than his world record time of 19.19 and his London Olympic time of 19.32, only three men have ever run faster than this.

It's reported that it now costs organisers $150,000 for the likes of Yohan Blake to take part in a Diamond League race. Bolt is supposed to cost twice as much.

Yohan Blake beats Usain Bolt in 200m race in Jamaica...

In the final of the 200m at the Jamaican Olympic trials, Yohan Blake has beaten the Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt...

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 Jamaica National Championship Meet...6/28/2012 to 7/1/2012......Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association...National Stadium, Kingston                     

Event 4  Men 200 Meter Dash
=====================================================================
    Name                     Age Team                    Finals  Wind
=====================================================================
Finals                                                              
  1 Blake, Yohan                 Racers Track Club        19.80  -0.5
  2 Bolt, Usain                  Racers Track Club        19.83  -0.5
  3 Weir, Warren                 Racers Track Club        20.03  -0.5
  4 Ashmeade, Nickel             Unattached               20.16  -0.5
  5 Carter, Nesta                Mvp Track Club           20.45  -0.5
  6 Forte, Julian                Mvp Track Club           20.70  -0.5
  7 Young, Jason                 Racers Track Club        20.71  -0.5
..
In a post race interview, Usain Bolt said....."Definitely, I have something to prove. I'm the Olympic champion so I have to show the world I am still the best. It's not like I was blown away, I know what I need to do to get it right. I just have to get my stuff together. It's all about putting in the work. I need to figure out what I did wrong and just work on that. I'm a little bit weak but I have a few more weeks to get myself back into shape. I'm not far off, I know I can get it done, I'm not worried. Everyone is talking about Yohan Blake and he is proving himself as one of the greatest, but for me it is just going back to training and work on what I need to work on and get it done. I can never be discouraged. I'm never worried until my coach gets worried and my coach is not worried."
..

Yohan Blake beats Usain Bolt in 100m race in Jamaica

Finals                                                              
  1 Blake, Yohan                 Racers Track Club         9.75
  2 Bolt, Usain                  Racers Track Club         9.86
  3 Powell, Asafa                Mvp Track Club            9.88
  4 Frater, Micheal              Mvp Track Club            9.94
  5 Bailey-Cole, Kemar           Racers Track Club        10.00
  6 Carter, Nesta                Mvp Track Club           10.01
  7 Clarke, Lerone               Unattached               10.07
  8 Harvey, Jacques              Mvp Track Club           10.17

In one of the biggest shocks in the world of sprinting, Johan Blake won the mens 100m at the Jamaican Olympic trials. In a race where the world record holder Usain Bolt was supposed to stamp his authority, he just about made it into second place ahead of Asafa Powell.

This was the first time Blake and Bolt have met since the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea last year when Bolt was disqualified for a false start and Blake went on to win. The general assumpion at the time was that Blake had only won because Bolt was missing. This race in Jamaica may well have answered this debate by showing that Blake is worthy of the title World Champion. With the Olympic just about a month away, it now looks as of the 100m final there will be a lot closer. Certainly, Bolt doesn't seem to be near the form when he set the world record of 9.58 seconds.

Yohan Blakes time of 9.75 seconds was a personal best and makes him the fourth fastest man ever behind Bolt's world record of 9.58, American Tyson Gay's 9.69 and Asafa Powell's 9.72. In the post race interview, Blake said......"No pressure at all... everything is good. I'm just fortunate. I'm the national champion of Jamaica now, I go into the Olympics like this."