Monday, 12 August 2013 01:19
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Reuters: Mo Farah and Usain Bolt ignited the first day of the athletics world championships on Saturday but the event was blighted by dire crowds and yet another high-profile doping scandal for a leading sprinter. Despite hot and humid conditions Bolt barely broke sweat in his 100 metres heat as he sauntered into Sunday’s semi-finals in 10.07 seconds.
Organisers, whose claims to have sold 80% of seats for the 10-18 August championship look hopelessly optimistic, will hope a few more fans turn up for Sunday’s showpiece final. Only a few thousand were scattered around the vast 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium even for Saturday’s opening ceremony where Russian President Vladimir Putin offically opened the showpiece.
Those who were there were treated to a consummate performance by Briton’s Olympic distance-double champion Farah in the 10,000 metres, while Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat also produced a tactically astute run to retain the women’s marathon.
Bolt starts as an unbackable favourite to add the 100 metres title to his Olympic double, partly due to the absence of fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay, who have both failed drugs tests. Leading Jamaican women sprinters Sherone Simpson and Veronica Campbell-Brown also tested positive in the lead-up to Moscow and on Saturday Kelly Anne Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago, bronze medallist two years ago behind silver winner and former champion Campbell-Brown, joined them.
Trinidad officials confirmed that Baptiste and team mate Semoy Hackett had withdrawn from the championships, though news of her positive test came only from the Trinidad Express newspaper.
