Athletics:Usain Bolt made up for his false-start disqualification in the 100 metres final by blazing his way to the 200 title at the World Championships in a time of 19.40 seconds to confirm his reputation as the king of sprinters.
The Jamaican lost his 100 title to young understudy Yohan Blake last weekend after being disqualified for a false start in the final and was in no mood to give up the gold in his favourite event.
Bolt powered home 0.3 seconds clear of American Walter Dix (19.70) while Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre (19.80) took the bronze.
The world record holder burst from the blocks and ate up the ground on Dix on his outside in a matter of strides.
Moving up through the gears around the bend, Bolt emerged at the top of the home straight with the race in the bag but pushed himself hard to the line to make sure there would be no more mistakes.
The 25-year-old double Olympic champion has not been at his peak this season, struggling to regain top form following a back injury that ended his 2010 season prematurely.
However, the great showman was at his imperious best on the penultimate day of competition in Daegu and could still leave South Korea with two gold medals with the 4x100 relay to come on Sunday.
A delighted Bolt said: “I’ve proved to the world that I’m still the best. I made a mistake in the 100m. If I hadn’t I would have won.
“I was out of shape but when I’m at championships it’s all business and I came here and I just did what I had to do.
“When I watched the hurdles race I saw there was positive wind and that’s a good sign so I decided to just come out there and run as hard as possible.
“Lane three was a bit tight for me. I always wish to run in an outside lane. I didn’t run a perfect corner. If I’d run a good corner I could have come in the straight and done much better. But I’m happy.”
Asked if he was under pressure following the 100m, Bolt added: “It wasn’t really big pressure. I was a little bit nervous. I’m always nervous for the 200, I think because it’s my favourite event and I love doing it so much.
“But for me the start wasn’t a pressure because all I had to do was sit and wait. And that was it.”