Bolt wins treble with relay gold
Super Mo makes history with �triple double�
AFP
AFP, BEIJING: Usain Bolt capped a memorable world championships by winning a third gold on Saturday as anchor of Jamaicas 4x100m relay team, while the United States were disqualified to hand China a shock silver. Bolt ran a blistering final leg at a packed Birds Nest stadium, hurtling through the line in 37.36 seconds after team-mates Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Nickel Ashmeade had successfully got the baton around.
The victory gave Bolt his 11th world gold medal his only blemish being the 100m at the 2011 Daegu worlds, when he was disqualified after a false start.
The US quartet of 100m bronze and silver medallists Trayvon Bromell and Justin Gatlin, and fellow finalists Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers, were initially awarded silver before being disqualified over a botched final handover which strayed beyond the passover limit. China, headed by individual 100m finalist Su Bingtian, delighted the home crowd when they were upgraded to silver in 38.01sec, while Canada moved up to bronze (38.13).
There was a distinctly gladiatorial atmosphere in the Birds Nest as all teams entered the arena through a traditional Chinese facade, passing cheerleaders and flagbearers to be introduced to a raucous capacity crowd. Racing in lane four, Carters opening leg for Jamaica saw him slip slightly down on Bromell. Powell ran his second leg in full chase of Gatlin, silver medallist to Bolt in both the 100 and 200m, in lane six. Not only has Bolt won 11 individual world or Olympic sprint titles from a possible 12 since he took track and field by storm at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the 29-year-old has also been a key part of the relay team.
Despite losing to the US team at this years World Relays, much to Bolts visible annoyance, the Jamaicans have won all world and Olympic sprint titles since the 2008 Beijing Games, and also set a world record of 36.84sec while winning gold at the London Games.
Earlier, Mo Farah became the first man to win back-to-back world distance doubles when he stormed to 5,000 metres victory at Beijings Birds Nest stadium on Saturday. The Briton, rocked this season by doping allegations against his coach, put the row behind him as he produced a devastating final 80 metres to romp home in 13min 50.38sec. Kenyan Caleb Ndiku, in 13: 51.75, held on for silver after making a valiant break with 800m to run. Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet took bronze.
The victory for Farah, who won the 10,000m on the opening weekend, seals a unique triple double of distance titles at consecutive world championships and the London Olympics. Farahs victory gave him an unprecedented seventh successive distance win at world championships and Olympics, stretching back to his 5,000m gold at Daegu in 2011.
His double matched that of sprinter Usain Bolt, with whom Farah came through youth and junior ranks, after the Jamaican successfully defended his 100m and 200m titles. Farahs British team-mate Tom Farrell led the slow opening pace for the 15-man field of the 12-and-a-half laps of the Birds Nest stadium in warm, windless conditions.
Farah parked himself at the back of the pack as American pair Ben True and Galen Rupp, Farahs training partner under embattled coach Alberto Salazar in Oregon, followed Farrell. With seven laps to run, Farah started moving up the field, having to push veteran Imane Merga in the back and onwards as the Ethiopian also harried his way past and into the lead.
Farah settled back into his stride as the peloton massed close together again, Mergas surge easily absorbed. Farah found himself setting the pace with four laps to go, lengthening his stride as Ethiopian team tactics kicked in and they jostled for position, muscling Kenyan-born Bahraini Albert Rop out of the picture.
