Bolt wins men's 100m as Ross takes women's 400m

 LONDON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Usain Bolt set a new Olympic record of 9.63 seconds as he won the 100 meters gold medal on Sunday night.

Bolt finished ahead of fellow Jamaican, Yohan Blake, who finished in 9.75 and Justin Gattlin, who ran 9.79, one hundredth of a second ahead of Tyson Gay, who finished fourth.

The fact both Blake and Gattlin ran personal best times in the race gives an indication of Bolt's greatness. The Jamaican, cheered loudly by the crowd in the Olympic Stadium, wasn't fast out of the blocks and found himself with time to make up on Gattlin, who got off to a flyer.

However, once Bolt was up to his full height after around 40 meters, there was no stopping him as he powered past his rivals.

"I was slightly worried about the start," he confessed, "I slipped on the block and ddin't have the best reaction, but I secured it and that' s OK," he said, praising the crowd.

"I knew it was going to be like this. It was wonderful, I had no doubts about that," commented the gold medal winner.

There was no slowing down as there had been in Beijing four years ago, as the gold medal was not secure until he crossed the finish line. Meanwhile Blake produced a powerful finish to get his nose ahead of Gattlin in the final meters.

"Bolt's the fastest man in the world and I have won a silver medal, what more can I ask for. To be the second fastest man in the world behind Bolt is an honor," said Blake.

The disappointment of the race was Asafa Powell as he pulled a muscle halfway¹ through the race, but the night belonged to Bolt, who celebrated² in trademark³ fashion as the crowd went wild.

Monday sees Jamaica celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence from Britain, Bolt and also Blake have given their homeland an early birthday present and along with women's gold medalist, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce have maintained Jamaica's dominance over 100 meters.

But Sunday was not just about the 100 meter final and although Bolt will deservedly capture the headlines, the night saw four other track and field medals decided⁴ along with the finalists for the men' s 1,500 meters and 400 meters were.

The first final underway was the women's triple jump and it produced the first gold medalist of the night as Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova on with a jump of 14.98, which she produced on her third attempt.

"I thought to have a chance of winning, I would have to jump more than 15 meters. I did my best to to do that. I didn't expect to win, although deep in my heart, I hoped to. I am going to fly home tomorrow to celebrate with my family and my daughter," she said.

Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia produced a leap of 14.80 on the sixth and final attempt to take silver ahead of Olga Saladuha by just one centimeter. Britain's Yamile 39-year-old Aldama ended the competition in fifth place.

"I'm happy for myself and the people at home in Colombia. I was thinking I needed to improve with every jump. It's a beautiful world and very happy," commented Ibaraguen.

Sanya Richards Ross won thrilling women's 400 meters in 49.55 after holding off a strong charge from defending gold medalist, Britain's Christine Ohuruogu, down the final straight.

Richards Ross went into the race as World Champion and with two relay gold medals from Athens and Beijing and an individual bronze from 2008, but this was the crowning moment of her career.

Russia's Antonina Krivoshapka had led into the last 100 meters, but ran out of steam allowing Ross, Ohuruogu and DeeDee Trotter to overtake. Ohuruogu had struggled in the early stages of the race, but her powerful finish, helped by the cheers of a partisan⁵ home crowd, saw her run a year's best of 49.70.

"I worked so hard for that and prepared for this over the past two years and I fought all of the way to the end," said Richards-Ross, while Ohuruogu said she's known she wasn't going to be able to catch the winner in the closing meters.

There was a whiff of controversy⁶ as Ezekiel Kemboi won the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Kemboi, the reigning⁷ World Champions, who also claimed Olympic gold in 2004, clipped fellow countryman Brimin Kipruto with around 700 meters left to run. Kipruto battled back but could only finish fifth.

Ethiopian Roda Gari tried to take the race from the front in the last lap, but Kemboi had the sprint⁸ to finish a slow (8.18) race ahead of France's Mahiedine Mekhssi-Benabbad, with Abel Mutai from Kenya claiming bronze.

"I want to thank the British people, it felt incredible to win my country's only gold medal here in London," commented Kemboi, while Mutai also celebrated, saying, "I thought I was going to win in the last 400," he said, describing the race as "tactical and tough."

Meanwhile Hungarian, Krisztian Pars⁹ won the men's hammer throw with 80.59 meters ahead of Slovenian, Primoz Kozmus and Japan's Koji Morofushi, who took bronze with a throw of 78.71.

"In the first round it was clear that nobody among my competitors was going to throw over 80 meters. I am happy with what I did. I won the gold medal," said Pars.

In the 1,500 meters semifinals, Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi produced an big acceleration¹⁰ to finish ahead of reigning Olympic Champion, Asbel Kiprop in 3.42.24, Mekonnen Gebremedhin, Leonel Manzano and Norway's Henrik Ingerbrigsten in the first heat, while the second semi was run at a faster pace to try and assure the two extra qualification places.

Abdalaati Iguider led the second semi home with World Championship silver medalist, Silas Kiplagat was second and Beijing silver medal winner, Nicholas Willis finished third.

The men's 400 meter semifinals witnessed South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, the man christened 'Blade Runner' as a result of his prosthetic lower legs, try to make history. Pistorius finished last in his heat, but still took everything positive from the experience.

"The whole experience was mind-blowing. I aimed to reach the semi-finals and it is a dream come true and I want to thank everyone for their support," said the South African.

Lalonde Gordon was the fastest to qualify with a time of 44.58, followed by James Kirani and Chris Brown, but the night belonged to Bolt.

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

6 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

8 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

9 pars   

n.部，部分；平均( par的名词复数 )；平价；同等；（高尔夫球中的）标准杆数

参考例句：

• In humans, the pars intermedia is a rudimentary region. 人的脑垂体中间部是不发达的。 来自辞典例句
• James Gregory gave in in his "Geometriae Pars Universalis" a method of rectifying curves. James Gregory在他的《几何的通用部分》中给出了计算曲线长度的方法。 来自辞典例句

10 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。