Blake wins 100m after favourite has bolted

Blake says he won the race for teammate Bolt who was disqualified for false start [GALLO/GETTY]

Many athletic fans had opposed the IAAF’s introduction of immediate disqualification for a false start, and on Sunday at the World Championships it became crystal clear why.

Fans at Daegu were left disappointed when the world’s favourite athlete and one of the most famous men on the planet tore his shirt off in frustration after being disqualified for jumping the gun.

It was another Jamaican who eventually won the race, with Yohan Blake sprinting to victory in the World Championships 100m final. 

Bolt, running in lane five, went early, stunning a hugely expectant crowd who looked on shocked as the distraught superstar covered his face with his shirt in disbelief before leaving the track.

“I can’t find words to explain it. Usain Bolt has been there for me. I feel like I want to cry” Race winner Yohan Blake

But Blake held his nerve for the restart and powered to victory, setting his season’s best time of 9.92sec with American Walter Dix second (10.08) and veteran Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis winning bronze (10.09).

“I can’t find words to explain it. Usain Bolt has been there for me. I feel like I want to cry,” said Blake, Bolt’s training partner under coach Glen Mills.

“I’ve been trained by one of the best coaches but I stayed cool and caught him (Collins). I felt I would win the race for Bolt.”

Bolt, the most marketable sportsman on the globe, has dominated the sprinting world in recent years.

After storming to the 100m and 200m sprint double in then-world record times at the 2008 Olympics, Bolt matched his feat the following year at the Rome worlds, setting new marks of 9.58 and 19.19sec.

The event in Daegu was deprived of the three previous fastest men this year – Bolt’s teammate Asafa Powell, American Tyson Gay, and Jamaican Steve Mullings.

Shock victor 

Ethiopia’s Ibrahim Jeilan produced an amazing home-stretch sprint to trump British favourite Mo Farah at the line of an enthralling men’s 10,000m final. 

Jeilan was a shock winner after defending champion Kenenisa Bekele, bidding for a fifth consecutive title and unbeaten over the distance, pulled out of the race with 10 laps to go.

Farah had made a break shortly before the bell for the final lap, taking Jeilan and bronze medal winner Imane Merga with him.

It immediately became apparent that Merga was out of the running, but Jeilan remained as a contender.

Farah clung on until the final bend when Jeilan made his move, the two neck-and-neck before the Ethiopian sped away with a final burst of speed.

Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia finishes ahead of Britain’s Mo Farah in the men’s 10,000m final [GETTY]

Jeilan finished the 25-lap race in 27min 13.81sec, just 0.26sec ahead of a despondent Farah, the Somali-born Briton, while Merga clocked 27:19.14.

“I saw 100m to go,” said Farah.

“Unfortunately I dug in but my legs had no more.

“I’m disappointed but I said all along it was completely different here as it’s much more tactical.

“I thought I had the speed and he was finishing quicker and quicker – 53sec (for the final lap) wasn’t quick enough. I didn’t go too early, I was always going to go at 400-500m.”

Earlier in the day, Oscar Pistorius made history by becoming the first amputee athlete to compete in World Championships history.

The South African, known as ‘Blade Runner’ because he runs with carbon fibre prosthetic running blades, came third in his 400m heat in 45.39sec, qualifying him for Monday’s semi-final, with a dream final scheduled for
Tuesday.