Bolt to get a shot at third gold, world record as teammates qualify for 4×100 relay final

Jamaica reaches 4×100 relay final without Bolt

BERLIN — Allyson Felix spoiled Usain Bolt’s birthday party Friday, winning the women’s 200 meters to end Jamaica’s sprint domination at the world championships.

After the Jamaican relay team qualified for the 4×100 final without Bolt on the track, Felix glided to the finish with an elegance reminiscent of a long distance runner to win her third straight 200 world title.

With a raised fist and a smile at the finish, Felix broke the Jamaican hold on sprinting that dated back to the Beijing Olympics. She held off an early charge from Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica, and once Felix entered the straight, where her stride is at its most efficient, there was no stopping her.

“I defended my title,” Felix said. “I cannot ask for more.”

It was the first sprint gold medal for the United States at the championships and Jamaica’s first loss. Jamaica beat the United States 5-0 in sprints in Beijing.

Earlier, the Jamaican sprint team qualified for the 4×100 relay final, giving Bolt a shot at winning a third gold and setting a third world record at the world championships.

The United States also advanced, carrying the baton around smoothly to set up a high-powered clash in Bolt’s last race Saturday.

After two gold medals and two world records in six days, Bolt rested Friday, signing autographs instead of sprinting as he celebrated his 23rd birthday with tens of thousands of fans at the Olympic Stadium.

When he collected his gold for the 200 title and a second $100,000 check for his world record, some 45,000 fans in the stands sang happy birthday to him. With two records and two golds, he has already won $320,000.

Bolt is the backbone of a Jamaican sprint team and it was clear the Jamaicans need Bolt, who won the 100 and 200 with world record times at the championships. Jamaica struggled to finish second in its heat behind Italy. The team had the seventh best qualifying time overall.

“We are so confident that we can beat everybody,” said Michael Frater, who also was on Jamaica’s record breaking team in at the Beijing Games. “We are not afraid of anybody.”

But it was unclear whether Asafa Powell, who sat out Friday’s heat, would be able to make it to Saturday’s final because of an unknown injury.

“We are not sure about Asafa running,” anchor runner Dwight Thomas said.

After dropping the baton in Beijing, the United States ran a clean race to set up the defense of their world title.

“Today, we wanted to make sure to get the stick around,” said Terrence Trammell, running the leadoff leg after collecting a silver medal for the 110 hurdles.

Just like the Jamaicans in the sprints, the Russians are perfect in the walking events.

Russia made it a perfect three-for-three when Sergey Kirdyapkin used a late surge to win the 50-kilometer walk, the longest event of the nine-day championships.

Kirdyapkin was as imposing as Valeriy Borchin and Olga Kaniskina were over 20 kilometers, giving Russia a clean sweep in the discipline.

“That’s really the first time in history, and I’m very happy that it’s the Russian team,” Kirdyapkin said.

Thunder, lightning and massive downpour delayed events for almost an hour.

In the men’s 400, Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt beat American teammate Jeremy Wariner to win gold. Rennie Quow of Trinidad and Tobago took bronze.

Other finals Friday include the men’s high jump and the women’s discus.