Usain Bolt Wins Despite Shaky Start, Wayde Van Niekerk Shatters World Best

Usain Bolt Wins Despite Shaky Start, Wayde Van Niekerk Shatters World Best

In the middle of his goodbye tour, Usain Bolt lit up the crowd at the IAAF World Challenge Ostrava where he won the 100m sprint in 10.06. Despite a shaky start, the eight-time Olympic champion charged ahead of Yunier Perez to secure the victory at Mestsky

Jun 28, 2017 by Taylor Dutch
Usain Bolt Wins Despite Shaky Start, Wayde Van Niekerk Shatters World Best
In the middle of his goodbye tour, Usain Bolt lit up the crowd at the IAAF World Challenge Ostrava by winning the 100m sprint in 10.06 on Wednesday. Despite a shaky start, the eight-time Olympic champion charged ahead of Yunier Perez to secure the victory at Mestsky Stadium in Ostrava, Czech Republic. 

The performance is Bolt's third race of the year after he won the 150m dash at the Nitro Meeting in Melbourne, Australia, and later the 100m at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica. 

Prior to Bolt's performance in Ostrava, Bolt told reporters that he hasn't made up his mind on whether to end his season and retire at the IAAF World Championships in August. He said he may continue running after Worlds, but 2017 will still be his final season. 

"We haven't fully made up our minds on what we're doing yet," Bolt said after speaking to coach Glen Mills about whether to end the season after competing in London. 

"I'm not worrying about that until the World Championships or at least getting close to it," he added. 

After the 100m in Ostrava, the crowd bid an emotional farewell to the sprint star by singing the Jamaican national anthem and holding up cards to display the Jamaican flag throughout the stadium stands. 


Wayde Van Niekerk also gave the crowd reason to celebrate when he shattered Michael Johnson's world best in the 300m. The 400m Olympic champion and world-record holder ran 30.81 to beat Johnson's previous world best of 30.85. He also beat Bolt's meeting record of 30.97. 

nullEarlier this year, Niekerk became the first sprinter to run sub-10 in the 100m, sub-20 in the 200m, and sub-44 in the 400m. He can now call himself a sub-31-second 300m sprinter. 

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah dazzled the crowd with a dominant victory in the men's 10,000m race. With help from pacers early on, Farah led the field virtually wire-to-wire until a late surge from Mathew Kimeli forced him to push ahead into the finish. Farah crossed in 27:12, well under the IAAF world championship standard.

The performance is Farah's first 10,000m since winning gold at the Olympic Games in 27:05 last summer.