Jamaica's Usain Bolt crosses the finish line to win during the 100-metre event at the Golden League meet in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday. - AP BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP):
USAIN BOLT battled the cold and a headwind, and was forced to come from behind to beat Asafa Powell in 9.77 seconds yesterday in a season farewell 100 metres at the Van Damme Memorial.
Running into 1.3 metre-per-second headwind, the Olympic champion had a bad start and immediately saw Powell shoot ahead of him.
However, in his last race of the season, nothing was going to spoil the world-record holder's farewell party in Europe.
Halfway through, he pulled level with Powell and then his huge strides took over, finishing just .08 of a second off the world record he set at the Beijing Games.
Jamaican sweep
Powell, the only runner to have beaten Bolt this season, finished second in 9.83. Nesta Carter made it a Jamaican sweep in 10.07.
"Asafa is a really fast guy. I'm getting used to chasing him," Bolt said.
Powell, who had beaten Bolt in Stockholm this summer, took the loss well and celebrated with Bolt along the track, cheered by the sell-out 47,000 crowd at the King Baudouin Stadium.
Feared the cold
Bolt had long warned he feared the cold and it was just 15 0C (590F) at the start.
Even his trademark showboating moves could not warm him up and when the starting gun went, he froze, getting dead last out of the blocks.
Such is his superiority, though, that he can com-pensate whatever he loses within a mere five seconds.
Once Powell saw him next to him, he knew he was done.
"I came out to run fast," Powell said. "Usain really put on the pressure."
Bolt won the 100 and 200 and ran in the Jamaican 4x100 sprint relay, winning three gold medals and setting a world record in each of his races in Beijing.
