adminMIAMI. — Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast broke the African 100m record with a blistering 10.78sec at the Star Athletics Pro Meet in Florida.
The 28-year-old’s effort, in a wind of 1.6 metres per second, put her atop the world list for 2016 with the Rio de Janeiro Olympics beckoning in August.
Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown also broke 11 seconds, finishing second in 10.83sec.
Ahoure eclipsed the African record of 10.79 set by Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare in London on July 27, 2013.
She improved her own personal best of 10.81, and moved past the 10.80 clocked by Tori Bowie at Doha on May 6 for the fastest time in the world this year.
At the same meeting, American Marvin Bracy won the men’s 200m in 9.94sec (wind 1.8m/sec).
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt shook off a “horrible start” to win the 100m at the Racers Grand Prix athletics meeting in 9.88sec, the second-fastest time in the world this year in Kingston on Saturday.
“It wasn’t a perfect race, but the good thing was that I won and I came out injury free,” said Bolt, who got away slowly but powered home, catching the field at about 50 meters and celebrating as he got to the line first to the delight of a big crowd at the national stadium in Kingston.
The sprint superstar led three compatriots under 10 seconds in a race run in a wind of one meter per second.
Nickel Ashmeade and Yohan Blake were both timed in 9.94sec, with Asafa Powell finishing in 9.98.
The race was only the fourth time that Bolt, former world record holder Powell and 2011 world champion Yohan Blake have clashed in Kingston and more than 30 000 fans turned out for the warm up for Jamaica’s Olympic trials later this month.
Powell had hoped for better, running fourth despite what he described as a calf cramp.
Running before his home crowd for the first time in about two years, Bolt said: “It’s good to be back, it has been a while since I ran here.”
While Bolt said execution was key in the 100m, he was pleased to overcome his technical flaws on the night. — AFP.
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