VIDEO: Usain Bolt dominates first individual sprint race of 2017
Watch as Usain Bolt, an eight-time Olympic champion, dominates the 150m at the third of three events as part of the Nitro Athletics series in Australia.
Usain Bolt raced an individual event for the first time in 2017 in classic Usain Bolt fashion.
The world record holder in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m contested the 150m at the third of three Nitro Athletics competitions in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday. In the previous two meets, Bolt ran a leg in the mixed 4x100m relay before including an individual event to his schedule.
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The competitions are set up in a unique format as athletes on multiple teams race in their respective events and contribute to an overall team score. The team with the most points at the end of the three competitions is declared the winner.
The eight-time Olympic champion captained the Bolt All-Stars to the overall victory on Saturday. He did his part by handily winning the 150m easing up well before the finish line to clock 15.28. The 30-year-old holds the world record in the 150m at 14.35 from 2009, the same year in which he set the current 100m and 200m all-time records.
Joseph Millar of Team New Zealand was Bolt’s closest challenger clocking 15.44.
Video of Bolt’s 150m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmFZXFiSlW4
Bolt, for the third consecutive Nitro Athletics competition, was part of the mixed 4x100m relay and helped his team to the win. He took the baton from Asafa Powell, a former world record holder in the 100m, and passed it off to Jenna Prandini.
Video of Bolt’s 4x100m relay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhTek30yQkY
According to event organizers, more than 9,000 fans packed Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne in the event that aimed to “revolutionize track and field” with its interesting concepts. Events included an elimination mile (video here), in which the last-place runner at the end of each lap was removed from the race, as well as three-minute challenge. (The three-minute challenge was time-based with teams of two attempting to cover as much distance as possible.)
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Bolt is expected to retire following the IAAF World Championships in London this August. He has never lost a race at a global championships in which he has finished. His one blip came in 2011 when he was disqualified for false starting the men’s 100m at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
Final team standings for the event can be found here.
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