Bolt completes treble in World Athletics Championships

BERLIN - Usain Bolt reached another athletics milestone at the World Championships Saturday but a Polish hammer thrower stole the world record from him.

Bolt became the first man to claim sprint trebles at Olympics and world championships when he helped Jamaica win the 4×100 metres relay.

He then accepted the blame that the winning time was only the second best in race history, saying “I am really tired.”

Instead, Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk got the US$100,000 world record bonus for a hammer throw of 77.96m.

The men’s relay completed another overwhelming sprint win of the Jamaicans over the United States, the final score 5-1 one year after a 5-0 whitewash at the Beijing Olympics. The only US win was from Allyson Felix in the women’s 200.

Jamaica won both relays in the absence of the US whose men’s team was disqualified and women’s team saw Muna Lee injured after an awkward baton exchange.

Steve Mullings, Michael Frater, Bolt and Asafa Powell claimed the gold in 37.31 seconds, missing their Olympic mark of 37.10 seconds. Trinidad and Tobago came second with 37.62 and Britain was third with 38.02 seconds.

Bolt won the individual races with amazing world records of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds, respectively, and with the relay prize money took home 340,000 dollars - and a chunk of the Berlin Wall to be given to him on Sunday by local organizers.

He is the third man to get triple sprint gold at the worlds, following Americans Maurice Greene (1999) and Tyson Gay (2007), but no one has ever achieved it at the worlds and Olympics.

“Winning three gold medals in Berlin is wonderful. I am proud of myself,” said the 23-year-old phenomenon.

“I had great championships and got two records. I came here, did my best, although I was not in my best shape … I didn’t say I wasn’t fast enough. The difficulty was the many rounds.”

Jamaica’s Simone Facey, 100m champ Shelly-Ann Fraser, Aileen Bailey and Kerron Stewart won the women’s gold in 42.06 seconds. Bahamas (42.29) took the silver while the full house roared the German team to bronze in 42.87.

Victory was sweet for Jamaica which had dropped the baton in the Beijing final, with Fraser saying: “We wanted to make sure we were safe and that we finished.”

Looking at the US team, she added: “We miss them. We want the top eight to be there. We feel sad, these were girls we knew.”

USA Track and Field chief of sport performance Benita Fitzgerald said in a statement the latest relay disaster must be “a lesson for future championships” as “it does a disservice to the champions we crowned.”

Elsewhere, Dwight Phillips won a special long jump competition, Steve Hooker defied injury with a big gamble to win the pole vault, and Kenya got a one-two finish ahead of Ethiopia in the women’s 5,000m and men’s marathon, with Vivian Cheriuyot and Abel Kirui the new champions.

Phillips overcame some mediocre years to win with 8.54 metres from his second attempt, adding the title to those from 2003 and 2005 and tying Cuba’s Ivan Pedroso on three golds.

Godfrey Khotso Mokoena of South Africa came second with 8.47m and Mitchell Watt took third place for Australia with 8.37m after holder and Olympic champion Irving Saladino of Panama overstepped the takeoff board three times to foul out.

Phillips got the gold medal from the Marlene Dortch, the granddaughter of Jesse Owens who won four golds in the same stadium at the 1936 Olympics.

“That is history looking to me in the face,” said Phillips. “Jesse Owens is a great icon for sport and humanity.”

The Olympic champion Hooker entered the final with a hamstring injury and took a huge gamble. He did not enter the event until 5.85m, missed once and moved up to 5.90m which he cleared instantly.

Romain Mesnil of France was second with 5.85m and rising compatriot sensation Renaud Lavellenie third with 5.80m.

Wlodarczyk got her huge throw of 77.96m on her second attempt, bettering the mark of 77.80m from Russian Tatyana Lysenko on August 15, 2006. But she had to sweat until the end as German holder Betty Heidler had 77.12m on her final attempt, with Slovekia’s Martina Hrasnova third on 74.79m.

The world championships conclude on Sunday with the women’s marathon, 1,500m, 4×400m, javelin, and the men’s 800m, 5,000m, 4×400m and javelin.