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Usain Bolt Pulls Up Injured In Final Championship Race

Usain Bolt’s final appearance on the track ended in agony on Saturday as he pulled up injured running the final leg of the World Championships … Continue reading Usain Bolt Pulls Up Injured In Final Championship Race


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Usain Bolt’s final appearance on the track ended in agony on Saturday as he pulled up injured running the final leg of the World Championships 4×100 metres relay as Britain beat the United States for a shock gold medal.

Bolt, who had to settle for bronze in the individual 100 metres, had been hoping to sign off from the sport by leading Jamaica to a fifth successive relay gold but they were already struggling in third when he collected the baton.

As he tried to gain ground, Bolt pulled up and fell to the floor with what looked like a hamstring injury.

A brilliantly executed race by Chijindu Ujah, Adam Gemili, Danny Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake gave Britain gold in 37.47 seconds, the best time in the world this year, pushing the United States, with individual gold and silver medallists Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman running the second and fourth legs, into silver in 37.52 with Japan third in 38.04.

Individual champion Tori Bowie anchored the United States to victory in the women’s 4×100 metres relay.

The Americans, Olympic gold medallists in Rio last year, were led off by Aaliyah Brown who flew out of the blocks to start the run that brought them the world title they last won in 2011.

Allyson Felix ran the second leg before passing on to Morolake Akinosun who handed the baton to Bowie, the 100m world champion.

The 26-year-old was shadowed down the final straight by Briton Daryll Neita who led her team to silver ahead of 2015 champions Jamaica.

Frenchman Kevin Mayer led throughout the day to win the world decathlon title and fill the void left by Ashton Eaton’s retirement.

Mayer won the penultimate event with a javelin throw of 66.10 and finished the final 1500m race

German pair Rico Freimuth and Kai Kazmirek took silver and bronze while twice former world champion Trey Hardee was one of more than a dozen of the original 35 starters who dropped out over the course of the notoriously tough contest.

Maria Lasitskene became the first Russian to win a gold medal at the World Championships in London after successfully defending her high jump title on Saturday, and said that she still hopes to break the long-standing world record this season.

The 24-year-old, competing as an authorised neutral athlete, stretched her unbeaten streak to 25 competitions by clearing 2.03 metres to triumph in the London Stadium.

Yuliia Levchenko of Ukraine won her first major global medal by taking silver on Saturday after clearing a personal best height of 2.01m, while Kamila Licwinko of Poland, who jumped 1.99m, won bronze to pick up her maiden major outdoor medal.

Germany’s Johannes Vetter won the javelin at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday as his great rival and Olympic champion Thomas Rohler missed out on the podium.

Vetter’s opening throw of 89.89 metres was enough to win the gold and the 24-year-old was overcome with emotion after clinching the title, mopping his tears on a German flag.

Czech Republic pair Jakub Vadlejch and Petr Frydrych threw personal bests of 89.73 and 88.32 respectively to take silver and bronze.

Rohler, who like Vetter has thrown over 90 metres this season, was beaten into fourth with 88.26.

Individual champion Tori Bowie anchored the United States to victory in the women’s 4×100 metres relay at the World Championships on Saturday.

The Americans, Olympic gold medallists in Rio last year, were led off by Aaliyah Brown who flew out of the blocks to start the run that brought them the world title they last won in 2011.

Allyson Felix ran the second leg before passing on to Morolake Akinosun who handed the baton to Bowie, the 100m world champion.

The 26-year-old was shadowed down the final straight by Briton Daryll Neita who led her team to silver ahead of 2015 champions Jamaica.

Results from the World Championships Men’s 4 x 100m Relay Final on Saturday:

1. Britain C.Ujah/A.Gemili/D.Talbot/N.Mitchell-Blake 37.47
2. U.S. M.Rodgers/J.Gatlin/J.Bacon/C.Coleman 37.52
3. Japan S.Tada/S.Iizuka/Y.Kiryu/K.Fujimitsu 38.04
4. China Wu Z Q/Xie Z Y/Su B T/Zhang P M 38.34
5. France S.Dutamby/J.Vicaut/M.Zeze/C.Lemaitre 38.48
6. Canada G.Smellie/A.Brown/B.Rodney/M.Ajomale 38.59
7. Turkey Y.Hekimoglu/J.Harvey/E.Barnes/R.Guliyev 38.73
8. Jamaica O.McLeod/J.Forte/Y.Blake/U.Bolt DNF

Results from the World championships Women’s 4 x 100m Relay Final on Saturday:

1. U.S. A.Brown/A.Felix/M.Akinosun/T.Bowie 41.82
2. Britain A.Philip/D.Henry/D.Asher-Smith/D.Neita 42.12
3. Jamaica J.Levy/N.Morrison/S.Facey/S.Forbes 42.19
4. Germany T.Pinto/L.Mayer/G.Lueckenkemper/R.Haase 42.36
5. Switzerland A.Del Ponte/S.Atcho/M.Kambundji/S.Kora 42.51
6. Trinidad and Tobago S.Hackett/M.Ahye/K.St.Fort/K.Baptiste 42.62
7. Brazil F.Krasucki/A.Silva/V.Rosa/R.Santos 42.63
8. Netherlands T.Van Schagen/D.Schippers/N.Sedney/J.Samuel 43.07

Leading results from the World Combined Events Challenge World Championships Men’s Decathlon after 10 events on Saturday:

1. Kevin Mayer (France) 8768
2. Rico Freimuth (Germany) 8564
3. Kai Kazmirek (Germany) 8488
4. Janek Oiglane (Estonia) 8371
5. Damian Warner (Canada) 8309
6. Oleksiy Kasyanov (Ukraine) 8234
7. Kurt Felix (Grenada) 8227
8. Adam Helcelet (Czech Republic) 8222
9. Jorge Urena (Spain) 8125
10. Devon Williams (U.S.) 8088

Results from the World championships Women’s High Jump Final on Saturday:

1. Maria Lasitskene (Authorised Neutral Athlete) 2.03
2. Yuliya Levchenko (Ukraine) 2.01
3. Kamila Licwinko (Poland) 1.99
4. Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch (Germany) 1.95
5. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Britain) 1.95
6. Morgan Lake (Britain) 1.95
7. Airine Palsyte (Lithuania) 1.92
7. Mirela Demireva (Bulgaria) 1.92
9. Inika McPherson (U.S.) 1.92
10. Vashti Cunningham (U.S.) 1.92
11. Michaela Hruba (Czech Republic) 1.92
12. Ruth Beitia (Spain) 1.88

Results from the World Championships Men’s 5000m Final on Saturday:

1. Muktar Edris (Ethiopia) 13:32.79
2. Mo Farah (Britain) 13:33.22
3. Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo (U.S.) 13:33.30
4. Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) 13:33.51
5. Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) 13:35.34
6. Mohammed Ahmed (Canada) 13:35.43
7. Aron Kifle (Eritrea) 13:36.91
8. Andrew Butchart (Britain) 13:38.73
9. Justyn Knight (Canada) 13:39.15
10. Kemoy Campbell (Jamaica) 13:39.74
11. Patrick Tiernan (Australia) 13:40.01
12. Birhanu Balew (Bahrain) 13:43.25
13. Cyrus Rutto (Kenya) 13:48.64
14. Awet Habte (Eritrea) 13:58.68
. Ryan Hill (U.S.) DNS

Results from the World championships Women’s 100m Hurdles Final on Saturday:

1. Sally Pearson (Australia) 12.59
2. Dawn Harper Nelson (U.S.) 12.63
3. Pamela Dutkiewicz (Germany) 12.72
4. Kendra Harrison (U.S.) 12.74
5. Christina Manning (U.S.) 12.74
6. Alina Talay (Belarus) 12.81
7. Nadine Visser (Netherlands) 12.83
8. Nia Ali (U.S.) 13.04

Results from the World Championships Men’s Javelin Throw Final on Saturday:

1. Johannes Vetter (Germany) 89.89
2. Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic) 89.73
3. Petr Frydrych (Czech Republic) 88.32
4. Thomas Roehler (Germany) 88.26
5. Tero Pitkaemaeki (Finland) 86.94
6. Ioannis Kyriazis (Greece) 84.52
7. Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago) 84.48
8. Andreas Hofmann (Germany) 83.98
9. Marcin Krukowski (Poland) 82.01
10. Ahmed Magour (Qatar) 81.77
11. Magnus Kirt (Estonia) 80.48
12. Devender Singh (India) 80.02
13. Julius Yego (Kenya) 76.29