Usain Bolt cruised to another victory in the 200 meters at the World Athletics Final Sunday and American sprinter Carmelita Jeter became the third fastest woman ever by clocking 10.67 seconds in the 100. Bolt finished in 19.68 in his last race of the season, coming fast out of the bend as usual but relaxing toward the end, when he understood he would not be setting another world record. Wallace Spearmon of the United States was second in 20.21 and Brendan Christian of Antigua was third in 20.65. Jeter had the best performance of the day, running into a slight headwind of 0.1 meters per second to beat the Jamaican duo of Shelly-Ann Fraser (10.89) and Kerron Stewart (10.90). It was a small measure of revenge for Jeter, after losing to Fraser at worlds. Only world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner and Marion Jones have run faster. Griffith-Joyner's world record from 1988 is 10.49, while Jones ran 10.65 in 1998. Jeter attributed her improvement to a change in coaches, after signing up with veteran track coach John Smith in November last year. Earlier, Croatia's Blanka Vlasic tried to set a new world record in the women's high jump, but failed three times to clear 2.10 meters. She came closest in her final attempt. She won the event with a 2.04 leap. New Zealander Valerie Villi, the defending Olympic and world champion, continued her domination of the shot put by throwing 21.07 meters, a world best this season, with her second throw. Her previous best was 20.69. Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus was a distant second with 19.56. Sanya Richards wanted to cap her most successful season so far – becoming world champion and sharing the Golden League jackpot – with a new US record in the women's 400. However, she had to settle with victory in 49.96 seconds, falling short of her own record of 48.70 from 2006. Novlene Williams-Mills was second in 50.34 and fellow Jamaican Shericka Williams was third in 50.49. Ethiopia's Meseret Defar added the women's 3,000 meters to Saturday's victory in the 5,000, taking away $60,000 for her two victories. In the women's 400 hurdles, Olympic and world champion Melaine Walker of Jamaica won easily in 53.36, with compatriot Kaliese Spencer coming second in 53.99. American hurdler Lashinda Demus, the runner-up at the worlds, was left on the starting blocks due to a hamstring injury. Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia prevailed in the men's hammer throw with a 79.80-meter heave, ahead of Latvia's Igors Sokolovs with 77.32. The men's 5,000 suffered from the withdrawal of world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele, who won the 3,000 Saturday and announced he was too tired to run a second race. In an exciting three-way finish, Kenya's Edward Cheruiyot Soi celebrated victory a tad too early and was nipped on the line by winner Imane Merga of Ethiopia and runner-up Micah Kipkemboi Kogo of Kenya. Merga was clocked in 13:29.75, with Kogo and Soi a hundredth of a second behind.
