Breakdown and heartbreak

LONDON, August 13 

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Usain Bolt’s unparalleled career ended in extraordinary drama on Saturday as he pulled up with injury on the anchor leg of his very last race, the 4x100 metres relay final at the World Championships. The 30-year-old had taken the baton for Jamaica a few metres adrift of the two leaders when, straining hard to catch them, he stopped abruptly with cramp in his left hamstring, began hobbling and tumbled to a halt after a forward roll.

As Britain and the US went on to win gold and silver, Bolt lay on his back in his lane, his head in hands, being tended to by medics as one waited with a wheelchair to help push him off the track. Yet the sport’s greatest entertainer was determined that one of the finest careers in sport was not going to end with him in a wheelchair.

So the fastest man of all-time, surrounded by his three worried teammates, Omar McLeod, Julian Forte and Yohan Blake, rose gingerly to his feet and limped the last 30 metres to the line.

The official result recorded that the Jamaicans did not finish but Bolt had been absolutely determined to ensure he completed the last race after a matchless career in which he won 19 major championship gold medals.

Typically, Bolt’s only thoughts were with the teammates he felt he had let down.

“He kept apologising to us but we told him there was no need to apologise,” Forte said. “Injuries are part of the sport.” 

Kevin Jones, the Jamaican team doctor, said Bolt had suffered cramp in his left hamstring. Blake was angry at having to wait for two medal ceremonies to take place before the race.

“It was 40 minutes and two medal presentations before our run... we were kept 40 minutes. It was crazy,” Blake said. “They were holding us too long. We keep warming up and waiting, then warming up and waiting. I think it got the better of us.”

With the 56,000-strong crowd going wild about the British victory, there was still time for them to hail the sport’s favourite performer, who waved to them a mite forlornly while hobbling away from the track.

Five years ago, almost to the very night, British distance running hero Mo Farah had broken into Bolt’s lightning bolt pose in this same stadium and the Jamaican had reciprocated with the Briton’s trademark “Mobot” to mark their joyous supremacy at the London Olympics. Yet in the same stadium on Saturday, they attempted in vain to reprise that triumphant night, Farah ending up with silver in his final track race, over 5,000 metres, and Bolt suffering his anti-climactic farewell.

Edris ends Mo’s invincibility

Farah’s aura of invincibility after six years of unrelenting success was finally cracked as he lost his 5,000m title to Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris.

Seeking a fitting end to his matchless long-distance racing career before moving to marathon running, the 34-year-old Briton’s bid for a fifth straight global 10,000/5,000m double was scuppered as he had to settle for the silver. In a thrilling finale featuring four athletes careering towards the line, Farah snatched back second place behind Edris, who clocked 13 minutes 32.79 seconds after a searing final lap of 52.6 seconds. 

“I gave it all but I had nothing left at the end,” a crestfallen and emotional Farah said. “It’s been a long journey but it’s been incredible. It doesn’t quite sink in until you compete here and cross the line — I had a couple of minutes to myself — that this is it.

It was a glorious win for 23-year-old Ethiopian Edris, the fastest man in the world this year, who had lost all his five previous meetings with Farah. “I was highly prepared for this race and I knew I was going to beat Mo Farah,” Edris said. “After the 10km he was maybe tired so he did not have enough for the last kick. I was stronger.”

Kenyan-born American Paul Chelimo claimed bronze in 13:33.30. — Reuters

Vetter wins javelin, Kang finishes 12th
Tearful Johannes Vetter made up for just missing out on an Olympics medal last year when the German won the javelin world title as his great rival and Olympics champion Thomas Roehler finished off the podium. Czech Republic pair Jakub Vadlejch, coached by world record holder Jan Zelezny, and Petr Frydrych threw personal bests of 89.73 and 88.32 metres respectively to take silver and bronze. Vetter’s opening throw of 89.89 was enough to win the gold. Roehler, who like compatriot Vetter has thrown over 90 metres this season, was beaten into fourth with 88.26. “I was shaking until my last attempt because I had used all of my energy in the first two throws,” said Vetter, who was fourth at the Rio Games. Davinder Singh Kang failed to make his historic final-round appearance count, finishing 12th. Kang, who has a season’s and personal best of 84.57m, could only muster a best throw of 80.02m.

Diniz becomes oldest world champ at 39
Yohann Diniz produced an astonishing solo tour de force to become the oldest man ever to become a world champion at the age of 39 as he won the 50km race walk title. The French world record holder, one of the great figures of race walking, produced the second fastest walk in history — 3 hours 33 minutes 12 seconds. Diniz was so dominant en route to his long-awaited first global title that he lapped nearly all the 43-strong field over the 2km looped circuit, finishing less than a minute adrift of his three-year-old world record of 3:32:33.  A great showman, father of two Diniz was even able to smile and wave to the crowds lining the course. His eight-minute gap over his two distant Japanese pursuers, silver medallist Hirooki Arai (3:41:17) and bronze medallist Kai Kobayashi (3:41:19), was by far the biggest ever recorded in the championships.

Khushbir finishes 42nd in 20km walk
Khushbir Kaur finished 42nd in the 20km race walk. The 24-year-old Punjab athlete clocked 1 hour 36 minutes and 41 seconds, more than two minutes outside her season’s best. China’s Jiayu Wang won the race in 1:26:18. 

KT Irfan finished 23rd in the men’s 20km race walk. Irfan clocked 1:21:40, less than one minute outside his season’s best. Devender Singh (1:25:47) and K Ganapathy (1:28:32) finished 50th and 54th, respectively. Eider Arevalo won Colombia’s first gold in a national record time of 1:18:53.

Henriques breaks own world record
Ines Henriques smashed her own world record by more than two minutes to win the inaugural women’s 50km race walk on Sunday. The 37-year-old crossed the finishing line in 4 hours, 5 minutes and 56 seconds.

France’s Mayer wins decathlon
Frenchman Kevin Mayer led throughout the day to win the world decathlon title, although he nearly threw it all away on the pole vault. German pair Rico Freimuth and Kai Kazmirek took silver and bronze while twice former world champion Trey Hardee was one of more than a dozen of the original 35 starters who dropped out. Olympics silver medallist Mayer led from the shot put on Friday morning and looked to be cruising to his first world gold until he decided to skip the opening pole vault heights and enter the fray at 5.10. The move nearly proved disastrous as he missed his first two attempts, then grazed the bar on his third. Despite an unnerving wobble, the bar stayed in place and Mayer avoided a zero score. Mayer finished on 8,768 points.

Lasitskene retains high jump title
Maria Lasitskene became the first Russian to win a gold medal at the current World Championships after successfully defending her high jump title, and said that she still hopes to break the long-standing world record this season. The 24-year-old, competing as an authorised neutral athlete, stretched her unbeaten streak to 25 competitions by clearing 2.03 metres. “I hope I still have potential to break the world record this season,” she added of the 2.09m mark set by Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova 30 years ago. Yuliia Levchenko of Ukraine won her first major global medal by taking silver after clearing a personal best height of 2.01m, while Kamila Licwinko of Poland, who jumped 1.99m, won bronze to pick up her maiden major outdoor medal.