MOSCOW – At the end of Day 1, Usain Bolt is on track to recapture the 100 metres gold he lost at the last World Championships and Mo Farah already has the 10 000 title he missed out on two years ago.
Even if a false start in Bolt’s heat was reminiscent of what disqualified him in the 2011 final, it was the runner next to him – Kemar Hyman of the Cayman Islands – who was sent packing, not Bolt.
On the second attempt, the Jamaican set off confidently and cruised all the way to a time of 10.07 seconds for the seventh fastest time of the day.
Two Americans had the top times, with Mike Rodgers clocking 9.98 and 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin also dipping under 10, with 9.99.
Out on the track, his “Lightning Bolt” pose was only matched by Farah’s “Mobot”, holding his hands over his head in a heart shape.
In a tantalizing finish to the 10 000, the double Olympic long-distance champion from Britain had to fight off defending champion Ibrahim Jeilan (27:22.23) over the last 150 metres. But instead of giving in at the line like he did two years ago, Farah’s finishing speed was such that he had time to cover his face with his hands and cross the line with his arms wide open in a season’s best 27 minutes, 21.71 seconds.
“I won the medal that was missing,” Farah said.
Farah now has to defend his 5 000 title on Friday and, at 30, establish himself as the defining long-distance racer of his time with his second 5 000-10 000 double.
Temperatures were close to 27 degrees C when Farah ran, but it was even higher when defending champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya won the first gold medal of the World Championships, the only female to defend her title.
Kiplagat won the race along the Moscow River in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 44 seconds, making a late push past Italian rival Valeria Straneo (2:25.58), who settled for silver despite leading for much of the race. Kayoko Fukushi of Japan took bronze.
In the decathlon, 20-year-old Gunnar Nixon set the competition ablaze in his first major global meet. But after a huge effort in the 400, American teammate Ashton Eaton, the Olympic champion, kept himself in the lead after five of 10 events.
Eaton, the world-record holder, clocked 46.02 seconds to run the fastest decathlon 400 at a World Championships and build a slight 4 502 to 4 493 lead over Nixon. (AP)
