Usain Bolt under the weather, but still captures 200 in France

World record holder Usain Bolt cruised to an easy victory over European champion Christophe Lemaitre in the 200 meters at the Diamond League meet on Friday night.

The Jamaican clocked 20.03 seconds, well off his record of 19.19 set at the 2009 world championships in Berlin, but it was enough to outclass Lemaitre of France, who finished second in 20.21.

“It was just one of those days,” Bolt said. “I was not feeling good because of a flu, but at the end of the day, I decided to run and could win.”

In the men’s 400 meters, double amputee Oscar Pistorius of South Africa finished fifth in 45.84, failing to reach the 45.25 time that would automatically qualify him for the worlds. Christopher Brown of the Bahamas won in 44.94, with American Jeremy Wariner — winner of the Olympic gold in 2004 and silver in 2008 — fourth in 45.50.

Bolt came out of the curve with the lead and eased off in the last 50 meters.

“Overall it was an OK race,” he said. “I ran the first part very hard. Then I just came into the straight, made sure I was leading, and I kind of backed off a little bit.”

The start in the 200 was delayed 15 minutes because of a problem with the timing.

“It was a little bit too long,” Bolt said of the delay. “It’s never good to stand out and just wait. The wind picked up, it started to get cold. For me, it wasn’t a good thing. I’m just happy I got through it injury free.”

After the meet was over, Bolt jogged a bit and got a massage just behind the finish line while sending some text messages.

“The flu is going away, I’ll be all right,” said Bolt, who will defend his world titles next month in Daegu, South Korea.

In the 110 hurdles, Olympic champion Dayron Robles of Cuba dipped his chest to beat U.S. champion David Oliver in a photo finish, with both runners crossing in 13.09.

World champion Caster Semenya of South Africa won the women’s 800 in 2:00.18, well off her stated goal of running faster than 1:58.

“It’s a little bit upsetting,” Semenya said of her time. “I cannot worry about the time, the most important thing about Daegu is to win, getting back to the podium.”

“I will compete also in China at the World University Games, that will be my time trials before Daegu.”

Source: The Nation