LONDON – Usain Bolt secured his place in sports history and backed up his billing as a “living legend” by winning the Olympic 200 meters and becoming the first athlete to repeat as double Olympic sprint champion. Undaunted by the first world record of the Olympic track meet run by 800-meter winner David Rudisha less than an hour before his final, Bolt was not going to be upstaged by anyone. From the starter's gun, he dominated his favorite event and had enough of a lead to slow down at the line, bring his left index finger to his mouth and “ssssshhh” the crowd. That was never going to work. The 80,000-capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium went wild as Bolt delivered on his promise of winning when it counts — as he almost always does. His 19.32-second winning time was just 02 seconds outside his winning mark at the Beijing Olympics. Just like Sunday's victory in the 100, his junior training partner Yohan Blake was the runner who could stay closest, and Warren Weir made it a full Jamaican medal sweep before Wallace Spearmon of the United States crossed in fourth place. “The guy is just on another planet right now,” Spearmon said of Bolt. The Jamaican can even still make it 6-for-6 at two Olympics if he leads his nation to victory in the 4x100 relays. Rudisha predicted a world record and delivered with an overpowering show of front-running to win the 800 title. When many were still hoping that Bolt would set such a world mark in the 200 later Thursday, the Kenyan stole some of the Jamaican sprinter's thunder at the beginning of a balmy evening suited for setting great times. Rudisha set off with his giant strides from the starting gun, immediately took the lead and steadily built on it, as many of the year's greatest middle distance runners could never even get close. He finished in 1 minute 40.91 seconds, shaving .10 of a second off the mark he set in 2010. “Yes, he's the greatest runner,” said Timothy Kitum, Rudisha's teammate who took bronze in 1:42.53. “He told me he's going to run a word record today. He's the best.” Nijel Amos of Botswana timed 1:41.73 – a world junior record for the 18-year-old – to win silver. In the women's 800, Kenyan compatriot and defending champion Pamela Jelimo of Kenya easily advanced into Saturday's final along with other semifinal heat winners, world champion Mariya Savinova of Russia and 2009 champion Caster Semenya of South Africa. Rudisha's record run only added to the excitement of another big day on the track. A simple 4x400-meter relay heat turned into high drama when South Africa first crashed out of the race with Pistorius waiting for a baton that never arrived in the changeover zone. While other runners took off with their batons after the changeover, Pistorius glanced back to see the baton wasn't coming, and dejectedly walked off the track. It would have been his last appearance at the Olympics after failing to qualify for the 400-meter final as an individual runner. Almost two hours later, a jury of appeal surprisingly ruled to give Pistorius's team Lane 9 – which otherwise would have been vacant – in Friday's final because it could not be blamed for the collision with Kenya.A jury of appeal said South Africa “had been severely damaged” in a collision between Ofentse Mogawane and Kenyan runner Vincent Kiilu, who cut across him too soon in the second section of the heat. “Emotional roller coaster!” Pistorius sent in a Twitter post. “Really can't wait!” South Africa won a silver medal at last year's world championships and now has a chance at an Olympic medal. Ashton Eaton of the United States won the decathlon with a total of 8,869 points. His compatriot and world champion Trey Hardee took the silver (8,671) and Cuba's Leonel Suarez the bronze (8,523). World champion Christian Taylor produced this year's biggest jump to take gold in the triple jump in an American one-two. Taylor's season's best mark of 17.81 meters was enough to finish ahead of Will Claye (17.62) and Italy's European champion Fabrizio Donato, 35, (17.48). — Agencies
