Bolt again! 9.58 World record in Berlin!

200 Meters New Record! Is He Insane?!

We need to start referring to Usain Bolts performances as insane.

Not many people expected much from the Jamaican sprinter today in the 200 meter final in the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany outside of an easy first place win, particularly after decimating the 100 meter with a world record on Sunday and already the current world record holder in the 200 meters of 19.30.

When Bolt broke Michael Johnsons long standing world record that Johnson posted in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics of 19.32 that was an unbelievable achievement by itself.

Perhaps the crowded stadium and all the hype that has surrounded Bolt since last years Olympics persuaded him to give it his all today.

What was apparent in this race from others he has ran, was that he ran hard all the way through to the finish, not easing up to show his dominance. You could tell he wanted to prove a point, and he certainly did so with a 19.19.

100 Meters New Record! Again!

16 August 2009 - Berlin, Germany C With a performance that defies the imagination, Usain Bolt set a new 100m World record of 9.58 on the second evening of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

The 22-year-old Jamaican knocked a mind-numbing 0.11 second from the 9.69 record he set at the Olympic Games in Beijing exactly one year ago today. One can only imagine where hell be and how fast hell run on 16 August of next year.

"I was definitely ready for the World record and I did it," Bolt said. "I didn't think I could run a tenth (of a second) faster than my World record, but for me, anything is possible."

His was the largest chunk ever C by far C to be sliced from the 100m World record. Previously, both he and Maurice Greene shaved 0.05 from the standard to earn the moniker of Worlds Fastest Man. A few days ago, Greene suggested that Bolt and other top sprinters werent currently on the same planet. Bolts performance this evening gave Greenes assessment an otherworldly ring of truth.

So profound was Bolts achievement that defending champion Tyson Gay clocked a sensational 9.71 in second, a national record, that was just 0.02 shy of the previous World mark. And the American, who is now the second fastest man in history, was nowhere near the Jamaican when the finish line was crossed.

"I'm disappointed to have lost the race, but i ran my fastest time," Gay said.

Not the quickest from the blocks, Bolt nonetheless took control some 30 metres into the race and continued onward to forge through territory not even the most passionate observers would have imagined before this evening. It was a run similar to his emphatic victory in Beijings Birds Nest stadium a year ago, with two distinct differences: this time Bolt ran hard to the line, and this time he'll collect a $100,000 World record bonus.

But the shows not over. Both Bolt and Gay will meet again in the 200m, which starts on Tuesday (18 Aug).

Bolts compatriot, the former World record holder Asafa Powell took bronze for the second consecutive championships, in 9.84.

"I'm so excited about Usain's run tonight, it is great to be part of this," said Powell, who's personal best is 9.72. "Usain showed us that it is possible."

Further back was the second wave, led by Antiguan Dan Bailey who was fourth in 9.93, just ahead of Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson of Trinidad who was credited with the same time.

Dwain Chambers of Great Britain was sixth in 10.00, edging the second Trinidadian in the race, Marc Burns, who also stopped the clock in 10.00.

Usain Bolt smashes world 100 metres record at Beijing Olympics

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, broke the world record as he blitzed his rivals to claim the Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres final in Beijing. He shaved three hundreds of a second off his own record despite slowing down and looking all around before the finishing line.

Bolt, 21, who nearly did not run in the event because he considers himself better at 200 metres, recorded a time of 9.69 seconds. He would surely have done a time of around 9.6 seconds if he had pushed himself all the way to the line.

"I want to say, I came here to prove I am the best. I have trained for years for this and prepared for this. I'm just happy, I came here to prove that I'm the best in the world and I did that. I came here with a plan and I executed it," he said.

But it was a memorable day for the British team too. Swimmer Rebecca Adlington, cyclists Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy, and rowing's coxless fours led the country's gold medal rush on "Super Saturday" in Beijing.

Team GB more than doubled its gold medal tally from three to seven on day eight of the Olympic Games - with the certainty of at least one more gold tomorrow.

Adlington, 19 from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, won her second gold medal in six days and sliced more than two seconds off the world record in the women's 800 metres freestyle final.

Wiggins, 28, a father of two who was born in Belgium but grew up in London, retained his men's individual pursuit title. Wiggins finished almost three seconds ahead of Hayden Roulston of New Zealand in the final at the Laoshan velodrome, completing the 4,000 meters in a time of 4 minutes, 16.977 seconds. Steven Burke of Britain C selected to race only days ago C took the bronze.

Hoy, 32, the vastly experienced Scot, won the keirin - his second gold medal in as many days, with fellow Briton Ross Edgar landing the silver medal. Hoy now has three Olympics gold from his glittering track career.

The coxless fours, in a Camelot-sponsored boat, snatched victory from Australia when, in a thrilling race, they rallied in the last 250 metres to give Britain its fifth gold of the Beijing Olympic Games. It was the third time in a row that Britain - represented by Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge - has won gold in the event.

There were bronze medals for Britain in the rowing: Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington came third in the women's double sculls, as did Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham in the men's double sculls.

But a lack of wind frustrated Britain's attempts to win two more gold medals on the water when sailing was postponed for the day. Ben Ainslie, in the Finn class, and the so-called "three blondes in a boat" - the Yngling crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson - must wait until Sunday to continue their bid for gold meals.

Adlington completed her rapid transformation from unknown athlete to Olympic superstar by becoming the first British swimmer for a century to win two gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

"I can't believe I swam so quickly," she said immediately after the race. "It's so nice when you work so hard and it comes off. As soon as I was on my own, I thought, 'right, I'm going to go for this time'."

Her parents, Steve and Kay, were in the audience, watching their daughter make history for Britain. They had been the victims of a ticketing fraud earlier in the week and therefore were still at home when she won an unexpected gold in the 400 metres freestyle on Monday.

Today Adlington went into the final as the firm favourite, and she took the race by the scruff of the neck from the start.

Always swimming within world record pace, she finished several lengths ahead of the rest of the field in 8:14.10, eclipsing the oldest female swimming record - a record that was set in 1989, the year of Adlington's birth.

Adlington, who was born and grew up in Mansfield, won the 800 metres freestyle just two days after smashing the Olympic record in the heats for the race.

She has a love of designer shoes and her double gold medal tally means she will boost her collection. After narrowly winning gold in the 400 metres freestyle, she said: "I was promised some Jimmy Choo shoes if I won, so that's one pair ... and my mum's promised to get me another pair of Christian Louboutin shoes.

"I've got two pairs [of Christian Louboutin shoes] already. I loooove shoes. I want one pair for every outfit. I've got well over 30 pairs but you can never have enough."

It is hoped that Britain will have one of its best single days ever in the Olympics today with others lined up for glory in cycling and rowing.

Mr and Mrs Adlington, Rebecca's parents, initially had only tickets for a pair of cheap seats for today's final. However, after their daughter's win on Monday, there was an appeal on behalf of the family to Fina, swimming's international governing body. The organisation then agreed to supply Mr and Mrs Adlington with front-row seats.

In Mansfield, in the space of less than a week, Adlington has become the name on everyone's lips. The town is where family, friends and fellow members of Adlington's swimming club, Nova Centurion, are savouring her moment in the spotlight.

Adlington took up swimming as a seven-year-old at the local Sherwood swimming baths because she followed where her older sisters Laura and Chloe led. "I just did it for the social side of things but I just got better and better and that's fun. If it's not fun, don't do it," said Adlington. "And winning's lots of fun."

Since the age of 13, the teenager has dedicated herself to a gruelling training regime. In the run-up to the Games, she was training from 6am to 8am, swimming about 7,000-8,000 metres per two-hour session. She would then go running or circuit training for an hour at least during the day before returning to the pool around 5pm for another two-hour training session.

The coxless fours Britons were ecstatic, but exhausted, after emulating the achievements of the Olympic greats of yesterday and giving the nation its third successive win in the class.

Williams, who is now a double Olympic champion after also winning gold in Athens, said; "That was very, very tough. It's very difficult to put any words together. But we're obviously delighted.

"It's been a very, very tough four or five months. Every day Jurgen [Grobler, their coach] kept saying 'there is no-one who can beat you' and some days that was really hard to believe, but we just kept on believing

Triggs Hodge admitted he was stunned by the late push which wrestled victory away from the Australian crew. "I have never been in that pain before. I gave absolutely everything there," he said. The British four was only third at half way.