Under pressure from Jamaica’s Nesta Carter, American Tyson Gay won his third consecutive Samsung Diamond League 100m with a 9.79 (+ 0.1mps wind) run, just shy of his 2010 world leading time of 9.78 set in London earlier this month.
After a faulty start that led to the recall of the runners, Gay reacted quickly to the gun but struggled to get into his stride for the first 20 meters. However, he was finally up on the shoulder of Carter by the halfway point in the race and was never overtaken.
Gay, however, felt Carter breathing down his neck all the way to the line and Carter ran a personal best 9.85.
“I seemed to have wings for the first 50 to 60 meters,” said the delighted Carter who trains with Asafa Powell. “Maybe the last 20 (meters) were not so good but I still can’t complain as I got a personal best."
Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, Bolt’s training partner, also went under 10 seconds with 9.91 for third place.
On his first Diamond League outing, Jamaica’s Allodin Fothergill performed well in the men’s flat 400m. In the absence of Jeremy Wariner and Fothergill’s training partners Jermaine Gonzales and Ricardo Chambers, Fothergill clocked 45.44 behind Europeans Nery Brenes and Jonathan Borlee, 44.92 and 45.27, respectively.
In the men’s triple jump, Cubans Alexis Copello and David Girald were 2nd and 4th, respectively, with 17.47m and 17.10m. Grenada’s Randy Lewis was 8th with 16.11m.
In the women’s edition, Yargelis Savigne placed second to Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan with 14.56m and took home one of the coveted diamond trophies.