Beijing: Usain Bolt completed a world-record breaking golden treble at the Beijing Olympics on Friday, as Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba claimed a landmark long-distance running double.
Bolt, who set world records to win the men's 100m and 200m, ran the third leg of the Jamaican 4x100m relay squad that won gold in 37.10 seconds, breaking the United States' 15-year-old record.
Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Bolt and anchor leg Asafa Powell coasted to victory ahead of Trinidad and Tobago, aided by the absence of a US team that failed to advance to the final after dropping the baton in qualifying.
In other medal events, long jumper Maurren Maggi landed Brazil its first ever Olympic track and field medal, and American Brian Clay won the decathlon title after dominating his rivals over the gruelling two-day competition.
Dibaba, 23, who last week won the 10,000m crown, produced a scintillating final lap of 59.54sec to win the women's 5000m gold 15min 41.40sec at the packed 91,000-capacity National Stadium.
Turkey's Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse claimed silver in 15:42.74, with defending champion and current world champion Meseret Defar finishing with bronze at 15:44.12.
Dibaba's double is a landmark for women runners and the first since male compatriot Miruts Yifter's feat over the same events at the 1980 Moscow Games.
"I am very happy," said Dibaba. "I will remember the Beijing Games forever because I won two gold medals here."
In the 10-discipline event of the decathlon, Clay finished with 8791 points to add to the silver he won in Athens in 2004, a massive 240pts ahead of Belarussian Andrey Krauchanka, with Cuba's Leonel Suarez third on 8527.
Injury-hampered reigning world and 2004 Olympic champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic finished sixth on 8,241 points, weeping and pounding his fist on the track after the concluding 1,500m race.
In the field, the 32-year-old Maggi won the long jump with a best effort of 7.04m, 1cm further than defending champion Tatiana Lebedeva of Russia.
Nigerian Blessing Okagbare - who was only competing because Ukrainian finalist Lyudmila Blonska was thrown out for doping - was third with a best of 6.91m.
Maggi, who served a two year drugs ban in 2003, delivered on her first jump and Lebedeva, who also won silver in the triple jump, no-jumped on her next four attempts before going agonisingly close on her final try.
Earlier Sweden's 2004 heptathlon Olympic champion Carolina Kluft failed to make the cut for the final three jumps.
The 25-year-old Swede jumped a best of 6.49m but it was only good enough for ninth place, one place outside the competitors who contested the final three jumps.
Back on the track, Russia won the Olympic women's 4x100m relay title as favourites Jamaica failed to finish after botching the handoff between the third and fourth legs.
The Russians, who settled for Olympic silver in 2004, broke through with Evgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina and anchor Yuliya Chermoshanskaya winning in 42.31 secconds.
Belgium, third at last year's worlds, were second in 42.54 with Nigeria third in 43.04.
Alex Schwazer of Italy won the men's 50 kilometers race walk to deny Russia a cleansweep of the Olympic walk titles.
The 23-year-old two time world medallist broke the 20-year-old Olympic record as he timed 3:37.9 to take gold ahead of 20km bronze medallist Jared Tallent of Australia.
Russia's silver medallist from 2004, Denis Nizhegorodov, won the bronze in 3hr 40.14.
US one-lap experts ensured there was no repeat of the disastrous baton-dropping antics in the 4x100m relay, the men and women's teams both qualifying with ease for the 4x400m finals on Saturday.
Comments
0 comment