Bolt equals world 200m mark

BRIDGETOWN: Jamaica’s 16-year-old “Superman” Usain Bolt says a relaxed approach in the home stretch earned him his world record-equalling run at the Pan American Junior Track and Field Championship on Sunday. Bolt ran the fastest race of his career to equal an 18-year-old world junior (Under-20) record for 200 metres at 20.13 seconds. “Somebody reminded me that I should just get in the straight and relax, and I did just that,” Bolt told reporters. “I am very proud of myself,” he added. Bolt equalled American Roy Martin’s 1985 mark and also lowered his own world youth (Under-18) mark he had logged in Kingston earlier this year at Jamaica’s National High School Championship. Bolt, the reigning World Junior and World Youth champion over the distance, registered one of only two English-speaking Caribbean victories at the three-day meet.

He admitted he became a little anxious going into his race after seeing his teammate Aneisha McLaughlin, last week’s World Youth champion, beaten — into second spot — in her 200-metre run. “After Aneisha’s race where she tightened up a bit in the straight, I was more nervous than usual,” Bolt said. St. Lucian Erma-Gene Evans captured the English-speaking Caribbean’s other gold medal when she landed the women’s javelin title at 49.67 metres, defeating Canadian Krista Woodward (48.90) and Nicaragua’s Dalila Rugama (48.61). A total of 10 Pan American Junior records were broken, to go with Bolt’s world junior record. The United States dominated the medals, collecting 48, 20 gold, 18 silver and 10 bronze medals, to lead Cuba with 9 (7-1-1), Brazil 10 (5-2-3) and Argentina 5 (2-1-2). Jamaica collected 15 medals, the second highest haul, but had to settle for sixth in the table because they had only one gold. They won nine silver and five bronze. The next edition of the Pan American Junior Championships will be staged in Windsor, Canada during the third week of August, 2005.