Lightning Bolt creates more history

Phil Casey,David Martin,Pa
Thursday 20 August 2009 20:17 BST
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Usain Bolt created yet another piece of athletics history tonight with a sensational victory in the 200 metres at the World Championships in Berlin.

After winning the 100m with a new world record of 9.58 seconds on Sunday, Bolt completed the sprint double by smashing his own world record in the 200m for good measure.

Bolt stormed to victory in the Olympic Stadium in 19.19secs, slashing 0.11 off the time set in Beijing last year, with Panama's Alonso Edward claiming silver in 19.81 and American Wallace Spearmon the bronze in 19.85.

Bolt, who celebrates his 23rd birthday tomorrow, becomes the first man to hold the 100 and 200m world and Olympic titles at the same time following his triumph in last year's Olympics.

The Jamaican superstar again looked supremely relaxed before the race, wearing a t-shirt bearing the phrase "Ich Bin Ein Berlino" in reference to Berlino the bear, the official mascot of the championships.

But he was in determined mood once the race got under way at the second attempt, powering round the bend and gritting his teeth in determination until crossing the line and seeing the time on the electronic display.

Bolt had said after the 100m he did not think a 200m record was on after missing a month of training earlier this year following a car crash in Jamaica.

"I can definitely say I didn't expect that because I was a little bit tired," he told the BBC. "I said let's try because people are really looking out for this, I said it won't hurt to try. So I tried really hard and now I'm really tired.

"Maybe next time I should just run the 200m or the 100m alone. My form was going backwards. I wasn't running upright. It wasn't a good race but it was a fast one."

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