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PARIS. — What would a year of track and field be without mention of the indomitable Usain Bolt at its fore, dragging the doping-mired sport out of the doldrums?
The 2013 season was no different, the towering Jamaican again dominating the sprints and underlining his formidable track prowess by claiming double individual gold in the 100 and 200m at the Moscow World Athletics Championships, respectively his second and third titles in the events. It means that apart from his false-start blip in the Daegu worlds 100m, Bolt has won every global sprint title on offer since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an astonishing feat he aims to carry through until the 2016 Games in Rio.
The six-time Olympic gold medallist’s world medal haul now stands at eight golds, bringing him level with American women’s 200m specialist Allyson Felix, and retired US track stars Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson.
Bolt’s Moscow performances were the perfect tonic for track and field after pre-championship positive doping tests for, among many others, top sprinters Tyson Gay of the United States, and Jamaican duo Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell-Brown. Turkey also banned 36 athletes for doping offences, including women’s Olympic 1500 metres champion Asli Cakir Alptekin.
International track and field was given a further boost in Moscow by the confirmation of Mo Farah as one of the best distance runners in the world.
Farah emulated Ethiopian long-distance king Kenenisa Bekele by adding double world 5 000-10 000m gold to similar exploits at the 2012 London Olympics. Like Bolt, the Somali-born Briton dominated both races, controlling the pace with aplomb and each time producing his now-trademark kick to burn off any opponents in the home strait. — AFP.
Online Reporter