Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor
Tyson Gay (third right) ofthe United States, Jamaica's Usain Bolt (fourth right) and Wallace Spearmon (fifth right) of the U.S. fill the medal positions in the men's 200m final in Osaka yesterday
OSAKA, Japan:
NATIONAL 200 METRES champion Usain Bolt buried the demons of 2005 to win a silver medal in the men's 200m final at the 11th IAAF World Champion-ships here yesterday.
Bolt, the man who stills holds the world junior record for the distance, clocked 19.91 seconds to become only the second Jamaican male, after Chris Williams in 2001, to win a World Championship 200m medal.
Never in doubt
American Tyson Gay, winner of the 100m on Sunday, arrived at the start in unbeatable and championship record form and the issue was never in doubt when they came off the curve.
Victory was achieved in 19.76. It beat the 19.79 fellow American Michael Johnson clocked to win gold at the Gothenburg championships of 1995. Gay's 200m win also made him the third American to achieve the feat. His idol, Maurice Greene, first did it in 1999 and Justin Gatlin followed up in 2005.
A very happy Bolt, who finished at the back of the field in 2005, described his performance here as "pretty good".
"I executed right but he (Gay) came home and held his composure well. I was beaten by the number one in the world right now. Anybody who gets a medal at the World Championships has performed a great feat as you have to work so hard to get to the top. I am number two in the world and will keep working to be number one," said Bolt, who celebrated his 21st birthday 10 days ago.
Tribute to Bolt
The very likeable Gay also paid tribute to Bolt.
"Usain Bolt came out so fast, I had to work hard to catch him. I should be thankful to him to make this such a fast race," Gay said.
Another American, Wallace Spearmon, just held on for the bronze in 20.05 ahead of his teammate Rodney Martin who crossed the line in a personal best 20.06.
Jamaica's Marvin Anderson, 20.28, and Chris Williams, 20.57, were sixth and seventh, respectively.
Wilson satisfied
There were no medals for Jamaica in two other finals. Nickiesha Wilson, 54.01, almost capped what was for her a great championship by nearly winning the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles. She came off the last hurdle in third but was relegated to fourth by the fast-finishing Pole, Anna Jesien.
Australia's Jana Rawlinson upset defending champion Yuliya Pechen kina of Russia to take gold.
Rawlinson, who had her first child eight months ago, clocked a season-best 53.31. Pechenkina also ran a season-best 53.50 for second while Jesien got bronze in 53.92.
Wilson was satisfied with her overall performance.
"I think my performance was great. It's my first World Cham-pionships and I have many more to come as I am just 21. I am a bit disappointed that I did not at least get a medal, but I am satisfied with where I placed."
Her instructions were to go out strong in the first three hurdles, keep momentum and attack in the straight.
"I did not think I did enough in the back straight. Maybe that's why I ended up fourth, but I was also very tired," Wilson added.
James Beckford was also out of luck in the men's long jump final. The 2003 silver medallist complained of pain in both hamstrings after the event. He finished sixth with best of 8.17m.
"This was a bad competition for me as I could not perform up to my best," Beckford said.
Panama's Irving Saladino, the world number one, snatched gold with a spectacular final attempt, getting up to 8.57m to beat former world junior champion Andrew Howe of Italy, 8.47m. Defending champion Dwight Phillips of the United States, 8.30m, bagged bronze.
Sprint double
Sanya Richards (right) of the United States hugs Jamaica's Aleen Bailey after winning her women's 200 metres semi-final heat yesterday. - Reuters
Veronica Campbell will be attempting to complete the women's sprint double when she runs in the 200m final at 7:15 a.m. (Ja time) today.
Yesterday Campbell was second in her semi-final, won in 22.21 by the 2005 gold medallist, American Allyson Felix. Campbell's time was 22.44. Aleen Bailey, 22.65, is also in the final. She was runner-up in the second semi-final behind winner, Jamaica-born American Sanya Richards, 22.50.
Campbell, who complained of a bit of fatigue following her 100m victory, said she felt fine yesterday.
"I was just trying to do enough (to advance) as it will be a very competitive final," Campbell said.
Felix will be very hard to deny, but Campbell is in extremely good form and will have to be beaten.
National 110m hurdles champion and the 2006 Commonwealth Games winner Maurice Wignall has also quietly made his way into his second consecutive final of the event at the World Championships. Wignall, who looked to be coming back to his best form, went through as one of the fastest losers after getting third in semi-final one with a season-best 13.29. American David Payne won in 13.19. World record holder Liu Xiang of China and Cuba's Dayron Robles, the Pan American Games champion, are also in the field. Robles won semi-final heat three in 13.21, beating Liu 13.25.
Jamaica climbed back to sixth in the medals table with yesterday's silver. The tally is now a gold, one silver and three bronze. The United States still head the table with 13 medals - six gold, two silver and five bronze.
IN ACTION TODAY
MEN
Decathlon (first five events): Maurice Smith.
6:40 a.m.: 4x100m heats
8:20 a.m.: 110m hurdles final: Maurice Wignall.
WOMEN
7:15 a.m. 200m final: Veronica Campbell, Aleen Bailey.
