Usain Bolt
Day 2 of the Beijing World Championships provided some of the most pulsating action you will see anywhere all year. It was a reminder of just why athletics is the most magnetic of all sports. Here’s what we loved on an historic day for track and field.
Red hot heats
There is a strange local weather phenomenon in Beijing that dates back centuries. It is known as ‘the chasing wind’ – a breeze that mysteriously swirls in a large, sweeping oval. Like a tornado, but looser. And more ovalular.
We saw nature take its freaky course in heat two of the men’s 400m, as Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Ahmed Masrahi ran an Asian record 43.93, a time matched by Rusheen McDonald for a Jamaican record. These were the fastest times ever in a 400m heat at a World Championships and it made for a sensational race.
Let’s hope the final sees a repeat of this strange weather pattern. Even if we just completely made it up.
Running up that Ennis-Hill
Very few gave Jessica Ennis-Hill a chance of winning a medal in Beijing. Aside from the fact she hadn’t competed in a major championships since becoming Olympic heptathlon champion three years ago, the darling of British athletics only gave birth to her first child, Reggie, 13 months ago.
Yet Ennis-Hill showed why they call her hometown of Sheffield the Steel City. She took the lead in round two and never looked back, almost making it look easy as she racked up 6669 points to finish well ahead of second place Brianne Theisen-Eaton.
“I hope I am an inspiration to other mums,” she said afterwards. Not just to other mums, Jess, but to us all.
The world is saved
The tension inside a stadium before any 100m final is completely unique; something that you simply don’t get anywhere else. In the Bird’s Nest tonight it was on another level again.
Usain Bolt, the fastest man of all time and the most popular sportsman in the world, against Justin Gatlin, the fastest man for the last two seasons and not the most popular sportsman in the world. In the end we got the Hollywood ending everyone was hankering after, and it was a special thing to witness.
Best of all, they’re gonna do it all over again in the 200m later this week.
Small island. Big impact.
Usain Bolt wasn’t the only Jamaican medallist on Day 2. O’Dayne Richards bagged bronze in the shot put, claiming his country's first ever medal in the event. The large corral of Jamaican fans who had gathered in the stadium ahead of sprint showdown celebrated Richards' third place like it was a 100m gold. They would, of course, be doing the real thing just an hour later.