2008 Olympic Track and Field - Day 6

Usain Bolt electrified Beijing again Wednesday, setting a new world record in the men’s 200- meter final, running 19.30 seconds into a slight headwind (0.9 kilometers per hour) to break Michael Johnson’s mark of 19.32, set at the 1996 Olympics. Bolt is the first man to win the 100- 200 double at the Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first ever to win the double while setting world records in both events. Bolt ran all-out for the entire race for the first time at these Games and won easily. Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles earned the silver medal (19.82). American Wallace Spearmon crossed the finish line in third place and was celebrating his apparent bronze medal when he was informed that he’d been disqualified for stepping on the inside line of his lane. American Shawn Crawford, the 2004 gold medalist, was awarded the bronze (19.96), ahead of fourth-place Walter Dix of the U.S. (19.98).

Jamaica earned another gold medal, in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, as Melaine Walker closed strongly to win in an Olympic record time of 52.64. America’s Sheena Tosta, who held the lead through the eighth hurdle, hung on for the silver (53.70), with Tasha Danvers of Great Britain taking the bronze (53.84). American Tiffany Williams finished eighth (57.55). The previous Olympic record of 52.77 seconds was set by Greece’s Fani Halkia in 2004.

Aksana Miankova of Belarus led pretty much wire-to-wire to earn the women’s hammer throw gold medal. She took the lead with a 74.40-meter throw in the first round before unleashing her best throw in the fifth round, measuring 76.34 meters (a new Olympic record). Cuba’s perennial runner-up Yipsi Moreno grabbed second place in the fifth round (74.70), then took a run at the gold on her final attempt but fell a bit short at 75.20 meters, to settle for the silver medal. Moreno also won silver at the 2004 Olympics as well as the last two World Outdoor Championships. China’s Wenxiu Zhang gained the bronze medal (74.32).

In preliminary competition Wednesday, American Bernard Lagat shook off his disappointing 1500-meter performance and won his 5000-meter heat. The 2007 World Outdoor champion finished in 13:39.70, with 2004 silver medalist Kenenisa Bekele third in 13:40.13. Bekele is looking for a double-gold performance after winning the 10,000-meter championship Sunday. Another American, Matthew Tegenkamp, also won his heat in the day’s best time (13:37.36), edging 2004 bronze medalist Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya (13:37.50). Kenya’s Edwin Soi won the other heat (13:46.41). American Ian Dobson placed ninth in his heat (14:05.47) and didn’t qualify for Saturday’s final.

Cuba’s Dayron Robles was fastest overall in the men’s 110 hurdles semifinals, winning his heat in 13.12 with American David Payne finishing second (13.21) to qualify for Thursday’s finals. American David Oliver, the only man to defeat Robles in 2008, won his heat in 13.31.

The women’s 200-meter finals, like the women’s 100, will feature three Americans and three Jamaicans. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown was fastest overall in Wednesday’s semifinal, winning her heat in 22.19. Fellow Jamaican Kerron Stewart, the 100-meter bronze medalist, was awarded second place (22.29), with American Muna Lee in third, also in 22.29. Allyson Felix won the second heat (22.33) with fellow American Marshevet Hooker second and 100-meter silver medalist Sherone Simpson of Jamaica third, both in 22.50. The final is set for Thursday.

American Nick Symmonds won his men’s 800-meter heat in 1:46.01, edging 2007 World Outdoor champ Alfred Yego of Kenya (1:46.04). Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei had the fastest time of the day (1:44.90), finishing ahead of Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia (1:45.15), the 2004 Olympic champion. The 2008 World Junior and World Indoor champ, 19-year-old Abubaker Khaki of Sudan, won his heat in 1:46.98. Americans Andrew Wheating (fourth place, 1:47.05) and Christian Smith (fourth, 1:48.20) failed to qualify for Thursday’s semifinals.

All dates mentioned above are based on Beijing time, which is 12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings Time.