Awesome Bolt comes home alone in atrocious conditions

ATHLETICS LAUSANNE GRAND PRIX:PAUL HESSION last night officially finished third to Jamaica's world 200 metres record holder Usain Bolt at the Lausanne Grand Prix in Switzerland – the only problem being it was in a separate race. Hession clocked his fastest 200 metres of the season in the B race as his 20.50 seconds was enough to hold off the top American Kelly Willie – although that only went some way towards not making the A-race, where Bolt ran a stunning 19.59 seconds.

However, the Galway sprinter then ended up third fastest of the lot, as finishing second to Bolt in the A-race was the American LaShawn Merritt in 20.41, while Martina Churandy of Dutch Antilles could only manage 20.76 in third.

Hession had hoped to get one of the eight lanes in the A-race, but such is the competitive nature of the event at the moment that he missed out – although his eventual winning time surely proved the organisers wrong on that one. His 20.50 clocking was also his fastest legal time this summer, as the 20.45 he ran in Cork last Saturday was marginally wind-aided.

Bolt’s 19.59, into a slight headwind, and in far from ideal conditions, is still just short of the fastest in the world this summer, the 19.58 that American Tyson Gay ran last month, but sets the Jamaican up for a fascinating showdown at next month’s World Championships in Berlin. Among the other big names that failed to better Hession’s time last night was the other top American Shaun Crawford, who only managed 20.80.

Jamaica dominated the sprint events as Asafa Powell won the 100 metres, Shelly-Ann Fraser took the women’s 100 and Kerron Stewart the women’s 200. Former world record holder Powell clocked 10.07 seconds for the 100m.

Olympic champion Fraser pipped Carmelita Jeter of the United States by 0.03 seconds to win her race in 11.03.

The biggest upset came in the women’s 400 metres hurdles where Jamaican Olympic champion Melaine Walker was beaten into fourth place with 55.24 seconds. Tiffany Ross-Williams of the US won the race.

Hession’s excellent run contrasted with Alistair Cragg, the only other Irish athlete in action, as he failed the finish the 1,500 metres. Victory went to Antar Zerguelaine of Algeria in the relatively slow time of 3:37.15.