Last Sunday, Usain Bolt triumphed in his highly-anticipated 100m showdown with Justin Gatlin at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, but on this day four years ago, the legendary sprinter experienced a different set of emotions in Daegu.
After winning three gold medals in Berlin two years earlier, all eyes were on Bolt as he looked to repeat the achievement in South Korea, and it seemed as though he had been given his path to victory after his two main rivals - Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell - both withdrew from the event through injury. Some of the anticipation ahead of the event had been lost, but Bolt's compatriot Yohan Blake was still a live contender for his crown.
Despite his status as the biggest name in the sport, Bolt still had to go through the process of progressing through the heats, but as expected, it was a breeze for the Jamaican, who clocked the fastest time - 10.1s - to easily confirm his place in the semi-finals. Blake would qualify just two hundredths of a second behind Bolt, but was a different story in the next round as Blake blew away the competition to make the final a tenth of a second faster than anyone else.
Bolt was the joint second fastest qualifier alongside Walter Dix of the United States, but he remained the overwhelming favourite to repeat his previous successes in the final. However, despite his usual histrionics before stepping into his blocks, it would be Bolt who would flinch first, and more importantly, ahead of the gun, much to the disbelief of an expectant capacity crowd in the Daegu Stadium.
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It was a breathtaking miscalculation by a man who didn't need to risk a false start, but his desire to break more records on the biggest stage resulted in the ultimate disappointment, something which wasn't disguised in the aftermath. At first, Bolt was quoted as saying: "Looking for tears? Not going to happen. I'm OK, " before he later released a statement to the media admitting that he "needed some time".
Bolt's removal from the race gave the rest of the field the opportunity that they would not have expected. What had appeared a battle for silver had transformed into an open race as the remaining seven bid to make it onto the podium. For the first half of the contest, Kim Collins looked on course to repeat his win from 2003, but it was Blake who finished strongly, gliding past the Saint Kitts and Nevis athlete to win in a time of 9.92s, a season's best.
A last-gasp dip at the line earned Dix the silver, pipping Collins who had to settle for bronze. However, despite Blake taking the glory, Bolt's absence from the final dominated the headlines, leading to questions regarding whether the false-start rule was too harsh. After the race, Collins told BBC Sport: "I don't think it is right. These things happen but you have to give people a chance. If the IAAF feel that is the right way to go for TV rights and everything, the rule will stay. As much as I want to be on the podium, tonight is a sad night for athletics."
Despite the criticism that followed, the rule has remained, like Collins predicted, but the blow to Bolt didn't prevent him from storming to gold in the 200m later at the event. Predictably, his start time was slower than his fellow competitors but he still ran a time of 19.4s, the fourth fastest of all time. Bolt wasn't finished, though, and he returned to the track to claim a second gold in the 4x100m relay, running the anchor leg to help the Jamaican team record a new world record.
Darren Plant
