Bolt races to year’s fastest 200 metres time

PARIS. Olympic champion Usain Bolt sent out a warning to his rivals ahead of the world championships by running the fastest time of the year to win the 200 metres at the Paris Diamond League on Saturday.The world record holder eased to the line in 19.73 bettering American Tyson Gay’s world lead by 0.01 seconds and then said there was more to come.“I came out to try and execute the best I could. I did a few things wrong but all I have to do is go back to the drawing board and get it right,” Bolt, who was dogged by a hamstring injury earlier in the season, told a news conference.“I lost one 100 metres and a lot of people are making a big deal out of it, and it doesn’t really bother me,” the Jamaican said in reference to his defeat by Justin Gatlin in Rome last month.“I am a championship person, I’m not worried, as long as I’m in great shape.”Home favourite Christophe Lemaitre, who won the world bronze two years ago, finish third in 20.07 with Jamaica’s Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir second in 19.92.Twice Olympic 100 metres champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce held off Nigeria’s fast-finishing Blessing Okagbare for a thrilling win in 10.92 seconds, 0.01 ahead of her rival who beat her over 200 last weekend.There was a world leading time of 14:23.68 for Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba in the 5,000 metres as she bids for a third world title over the distance in Moscow next month before turning to the marathon.Fellow Ethiopian Almaz Ayana stunned the crowd by taking second place in 14:25.84, smashing her personal best by more than 26 seconds and becoming the sixth fastest woman of all times.Olympic and world champion Kirani James produced a superb effort to win the 400 metres with a world-leading time of 43.96 seconds, the second quickest of his career. LaShawn Merritt of the U.S. was second in 44.09.Aries Merritt, 110 hurdles world record holder, showed he was starting to run into form following a hamstring injury, with victory in 13.09.

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Bolt races to year’s fastest 200 metres time