3 minute read

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has overcome a poor start to comfortably win the 100m at a meet in the Czech Republic town of Ostrava.

Usain Bolt opened his European track season at the Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic on Friday by clocking 10.04sec in the 100m after what he dubbed a "very bad day at the starting blocks".

The double sprint gold medallist from the 2008 Beijing Games overcame a dreadful start at the second time of asking and into a -0.8m/s headwind and grimaced his way from the 50m mark, the long-legged Jamaican opening up a lead on his rivals to the line.

Veteran Kim Collins of St Kitts and St Nevis came second in 10.19sec with American Darvis Patton third in 10.22.

"I don't really know what went on," said Bolt, who added that he hadn't run as badly as this one since an outing in Canada back in 2009.

"At the start, I didn't feel as explosive as I normally feel. If you don't get that first start, well that's where my power comes from for the transition and everything comes together.

As introductions were made on the stadium big screen, reggae music booming, Bolt danced, played air guitar and generally goofed around for the benefit of a capacity 20,000-strong crowd at the Vitkovice City Stadium in this eastern Czech city of Ostrava.

Briton Dwain Chambers, who has served a drugs ban and is now cleared to race in the Olympics after the Court for Arbitration in Sport overturned a British Olympic Association bylaw that banned doping cheats for life, recorded 10.28sec to miss the Olympic qualification time of 10.18.