OSTRAVA (CZECH REPUBLIC), May 26 (AP): Usain Bolt won the 100 meters at the Golden Spike meet, his first victory in Europe ahead of the London Olympics.
The Jamaican, who won three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, had a slow start but pulled ahead in the final meters to finish in 10.04 seconds in windy conditions yesterday. Bolt failed to improve his season best of 9.82 from a May meet in Jamaica, and was disappointed.
�It�s hard to explain. I don�t really know what went wrong,� he said. Ahead of the race, Bolt said he was working on his notoriously slow start to improve and be ready to attack his world records in the 100 and 200 in London. �At the start I didn�t feel as explosive as I normally feel like,� he said. Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis finished second in 10.19 and Darvis Patton of the US Was third in 10.22.
This was Bolt�s sixth competition in Ostrava. �I was looking to come here for a good time. I guess it�s one of those days,� he said. �I just never got going.�
The runners had to start twice after Simon Magakwe false started. That was something familiar for Bolt, who failed to defend the world championship title in the 100 in Daegu, South Korea after he was disqualified for a false start. But Bolt said that was not a problem for him in Ostrava.
�I did some starts and I was flying from the blocks so I said, �Yeah this is good.� I can�t tell you what happened.� Bolt will have another chance to lower his times in Diamond League meets in Rome on May 31 and Oslo, Norway, on June 7 before returning to Jamaica for the national trials.
Meantime, he said he will seek advice from his coach. �I have to look at the tape and see what went wrong and call my coach to explain to me what I did wrong.�
He plans to be back in Europe to run in the 200 at the Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 20, his last race before the Olympics start a week later.
Elsewhere, Olympic javelin champion Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic looked strong, winning with her best throw of 67.78 meters to delight the home crowd with the leading performance in the world this season. World champion Mariya Abakumova, who beat Spotakova at last year�s worlds, was second with 64.34. �It�s a wonderful feeling,� Spotakova said. �I was hoping to win but to achieve also the world leading (distance) and meet record is fantastic. I fulfilled my goals.�
France�s Renaud Lavillenie cleared 5.90 meters for the season�s best in the men�s pole vault, edging Karsten Dilla of Germany, who cleared 5.72. Steven Lewis of Britain was third. Dexter Faulk led an American sweep of the 110-meter hurdles in a personal best 13.13, followed by Jeff Porter and Ryan Wilson.
Reigning Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt of the United States dominated the men�s 400 with 45.13, with Luguelin Santos of Dominican Republic second and Nery Brenes of Costa Rica third.
Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius failed to secure a place at the London Games after he clocked 47.66 seconds, finishing eighth in the same race. Pistorius needs to run 45.30 or faster once more before June 30 to earn a trip to London in line with South Africa�s Olympic criteria. He�s trying to make history by reaching the Olympics.
