Bolt thunders through downpour in Toronto

Conditions were far from excellent, but a field of top-calibre athletes wowed a sold-out crowd of about 6,000 spectators at the Festival of Excellence track and field meet at Toronto’s Varsity Centre on June 11.

In a steady downpour under the lights of the refurbished outdoor stadium, headliner Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke away from Americans Shawn Crawford and Ivory Williams in the 100m event, cruising to victory in 10 seconds flat. It wasn’t the world record the heavily pro-Jamaican crowd had hoped for, but with a wet track, the world record holder said he had to back off the pace to avoid getting injured.

On his victory lap, Bolt high-fived fans in the $25 bargain seats, who were stationed outside the fence along the back stretch, then he hammed it up for the big crowd overlooking the straightaway. Despite sitting in the rain for hours and paying up to $250 for tickets, the spectators appeared to be enjoying themselves right to the end, yelling “Usain!” and waving Jamaican flags long after the TV crews had packed up their equipment.

The festival, organized by local promoter John Carson, attracted other top runners, including Saif Shaheen of Qatar, who won the 5000m race in 13:22, and Olympic gold medallist LaShawn Merritt, who took the 400m title in 44.83. Many top Canadian runners were also out in fine form. The women’s 100m hurdles featured a tight battle, with Priscilla Lopes-Schliep edging out fellow Toronto-area runner Perdita Felicien. Cambridge, Ont.’s Nate Brannen won the men’s mile in 3:55:07 by outkicking Taylor Milne of Callander, Ont. High-schooler Jeremy Rae, 18, of Fort Erie, Ont. was hoping to make history in becoming the youngest Canadian to run a sub-four-minute mile, but fell short of the mark with a still-respectable 4:06:44. Calgary’s Malindi Elmore ran a strong second-place finish in the women’s mile, just behind Sally Kipyego of Kenya.

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