LONDON - Usain Bolt and his club team mates ran the fourth-fastest 400m relay time in history - 37,46 seconds - at the London Grand Prix meeting on Saturday, shrugging off a developing doping probe involving Jamaican sprinters.
LONDON - Usain Bolt and his club team mates ran the fourth-fastest 400m relay time in history - 37,46 seconds - at the London Grand Prix meeting on Saturday, shrugging off a developing doping probe involving Jamaican sprinters.
Bolt anchored the team that included fellow Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Mario Forsythe, plus Antigua's Daniel Bailey, representing the Kingston-based Racers Track Club.
"It was a good race, a good team effort," the triple Olympic champion and world record-holder said.
At the end of a two-day meet overshadowed by speculation surrounding the Jamaican doping investigation, even the relay triumph had a dramatic twist.
The Racers TC team was initially disqualified because the 19-year-old Blake broke too quickly at the start of the second leg. However, the judges changed their minds and the quartet was reinstated within 30 minutes.
On Friday, Jamaica's new anti-doping organisation said that four male sprinters and one female tested positive for an unidentified drug at their national championships last month.
"I don't know what is happening back home," said Bolt, who is not involved in the probe. "All I know is that we have to wait for the results of the second tests."
However, the country's anti-doping officials said all five were chosen in Jamaica's team for the world championships to be held in Berlin next month. The woman was identified as Sheri-Ann Brooks.
On Saturday, defending world champion Tyson Gay won the 200m after easing up to finish in 20 seconds flat, though he required pain killers to numb a groin injury and went straight to the treatment room.
The 26-year-old Gay still remained confident of defending his 100m and 200m world titles against Bolt in Berlin, although he is "taking it one day at a time". "My groin has been tight on me, I'm trying to take a little Advil to run through the pain," Gay said.
Bolt set world records in the 100m and 200m at Beijing while also being part of the Jamaican team that set a world mark of 37.10 in the 400-meter relay. A year earlier at the 2007 worlds in Osaka, Japan, Gay swept those events. His Beijing plans though were stymied by a hamstring injury.
Bolt easily won the 100 on Friday, running 9,91 into a strong headwind. Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba returned to the track after two months sidelined by injury to win the women's 5 000 in 14:33.65, fastest in the world this year.
"My next race will be the world championships," said the 23-year-old Ethiopian, who won gold at 5000 and 10000 in Beijing. - Sapa-AP
Bolt shrugs off dope probe
LONDON - Usain Bolt and his club team mates ran the fourth-fastest 400m relay time in history - 37,46 seconds - at the London Grand Prix meeting on Saturday, shrugging off a developing doping probe involving Jamaican sprinters.
LONDON - Usain Bolt and his club team mates ran the fourth-fastest 400m relay time in history - 37,46 seconds - at the London Grand Prix meeting on Saturday, shrugging off a developing doping probe involving Jamaican sprinters.
Bolt anchored the team that included fellow Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Mario Forsythe, plus Antigua's Daniel Bailey, representing the Kingston-based Racers Track Club.
"It was a good race, a good team effort," the triple Olympic champion and world record-holder said.
At the end of a two-day meet overshadowed by speculation surrounding the Jamaican doping investigation, even the relay triumph had a dramatic twist.
The Racers TC team was initially disqualified because the 19-year-old Blake broke too quickly at the start of the second leg. However, the judges changed their minds and the quartet was reinstated within 30 minutes.
On Friday, Jamaica's new anti-doping organisation said that four male sprinters and one female tested positive for an unidentified drug at their national championships last month.
"I don't know what is happening back home," said Bolt, who is not involved in the probe. "All I know is that we have to wait for the results of the second tests."
However, the country's anti-doping officials said all five were chosen in Jamaica's team for the world championships to be held in Berlin next month. The woman was identified as Sheri-Ann Brooks.
On Saturday, defending world champion Tyson Gay won the 200m after easing up to finish in 20 seconds flat, though he required pain killers to numb a groin injury and went straight to the treatment room.
The 26-year-old Gay still remained confident of defending his 100m and 200m world titles against Bolt in Berlin, although he is "taking it one day at a time". "My groin has been tight on me, I'm trying to take a little Advil to run through the pain," Gay said.
Bolt set world records in the 100m and 200m at Beijing while also being part of the Jamaican team that set a world mark of 37.10 in the 400-meter relay. A year earlier at the 2007 worlds in Osaka, Japan, Gay swept those events. His Beijing plans though were stymied by a hamstring injury.
Bolt easily won the 100 on Friday, running 9,91 into a strong headwind. Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba returned to the track after two months sidelined by injury to win the women's 5 000 in 14:33.65, fastest in the world this year.
"My next race will be the world championships," said the 23-year-old Ethiopian, who won gold at 5000 and 10000 in Beijing. - Sapa-AP
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