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Bolt scorches 200m in Oslo

Oslo - Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt scorched to victory in 19.79 seconds in the 200m at the Oslo Diamond League meet on Thursday to banish memories of his loss to Justin Gatlin in Rome last week.

Bolt's first outing over his favoured event this season was disrupted with a false start by Churandy Martina, the Dutchman running in the lane outside the Jamaican disqualified.

With the temperature hovering around a chilly 13 degrees Celsius, Bolt made an explosive start on the second time of asking and was up on Sweden's Nil de Oliveira in the outside lane within 10 paces.

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As he rounded the bend, Norway's Jaysuma Saidy Ndure briefly threatened from lane five, but teeth clenched and at full tilt, Bolt destroyed the field in the final 40 metres to set a new meeting record.

Saidy Ndure finished second in 20.36sec, with Britain's James Ellington in third at 20.55.

"I'm very, very chilly!" Bolt said. "I was going to come out here and give my best and I did that. I'm very happy.

"It's a very good start for my first 200m (of the season). I'll now go home and work on everything else. I'll aim to go even faster."

For Bolt, it was a return to business as normal after his 100m defeat by Gatlin in the Italian capital, something the Jamaican had put down in part to a tight hamstring.

He certainly showed no signs of that as he powered past Namibian Frankie Fredericks' Bislett Stadium record of 19.82sec set back in 1996.

In the build-up to the race, the track announcer eschewed the usual reggae over the tannoy for some hard-core dance music, to which the Bob Marley-loving Bolt threw a few dance moves, to the delight of the shivering, sell-out crowd.

Bolt played up to the television cameras, pretending to style his hair before rubbing his shoulders and blowing into cupped hands because of the cold before proceeding to do some "robotics".

Fresh from just his fifth defeat on the track since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the imposing 26-year-old, also the world record holder in both sprint events, switched on the afterburners in his drive phase to ensure a comfortable win in his favoured event.

In clocking 19.79sec, Bolt became the first male athlete to dip under 20 seconds for the 200m this season, the perfect boost before heading home for his national trials ahead of the August 10-18 World Athletics Championships in Moscow.

Meanwhile, South Africa's Johan Cronje burst through in the closing stages to grab ninth place in the men's Dream Mile at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday night.

Cronje, the only South African competing at the Bislett Games, started slowly and was at the back of the field after two laps.

But he produced a late charge to cross the line in three minutes, 54.86 seconds (3:54.86), missing his career best by 0.02 seconds.

Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti won the race in 3:50.53.

The next Diamond League meeting will be held in Birmingham, England, on June 30.

Results from the Diamond League Meeting Oslo:

Men:
400m:
1. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Saudi Arabia) 45.33
2. Ramon Miller (Bahamas) 45.58
3. Nigel Levine (Britain) 45.63
3000m Steeplechase:
1. Conseslus Kipruto (Kenya) 8:04.48
2. Ezekiel Kemboi (Kenya) 8:07.00
3. Hillary Kipsang Yego (Kenya) 8:09.01 
Discus Throw:
1. Gerd Kanter (Estonia) 65.52
2. Ehsan Hadadi (Iran) 64.63
3. Robert Urbanek (Poland) 64.58

Women:

100m

1. Ivet Lalova (Bulgaria) 11.04
2. Murielle Ahoure (Cote D'Ivoire) 11.05
3. Mariya Ryemyen (Ukraine) 11.07
5000m:
1. Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) 14:26.90
2. Viola Jelagat Kibiwot (Kenya) 14:33.48
3. Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) 14:37.68
400m Hurdles
1. Zuzana Hejnova (Czech Republic) 53.60
2. Perri Shakes-Drayton (Britain) 54.03
3. Dalilah Muhammad (U.S.) 54.33
Triple Jump:
1. Caterine Ibargueen (Colombia) 14.81
2. Olha Saladuha (Ukraine) 14.56
3. Anna Pyatykh (Russia) 14.16
Shot Put:
1. Christina Schwanitz (Germany) 20.10
2. Nadine Kleinert (Germany) 18.17
3. Natalia Duco (Chile) 18.00


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