AFP, Melbourne :
Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt secured a classy win for his All-Stars team with two impressive runs on the final night of the inaugural Nitro Athletics.
After restricting himself to a leg of the mixed 4x100m relay on each of the first two nights at Melbourne’s packed Lakeside Stadium, the world’s fastest man contested the 150m, which he won convincingly.
Bolt was clearly fastest out of the blocks and around the bend to quickly establish a lead of over 10 metres mid-race, before easing up in the closing stages. The 30-year-old Jamaican star clocked a time of 15.28 seconds, less than a second slower than the world record of 14.35 he set over the distance in Manchester in 2009. His world record for 200m, also set in 2009 in Berlin, is 19.19 seconds.
New Zealand’s Joseph Miller finished strongly in 15.44 seconds with Confidence Lawson of England third in 15.69. Some 45 minutes later, Bolt again ran the second leg of the mixed 4x100m relay, helping his All Stars take out the final event of the night, as they had at the previous two Nitro Athletics meets last Saturday and Thursday.
Bolt took the baton from fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell and stretched the lead before handing over to American Jeneba Tarmoh.
Another Jamaican, Natasha Morrison, ran the final leg to secure victory for the Bolt All Stars in the race, which also took them to the top of the points table on the night to claim the first Nitro trophy ahead of Australia.
Bolt, who is expected to retire from track and field at the end of the year, said he was feeling good about his own form but even better about leading his team to victory.
Nitro Athletics involves a mixture of traditional and modified events, including mixed gender relays and an elimination mile, designed to provide non-stop action over a two-hour period.
Twelve events were contested on each of the three nights, with points awarded for each placing, from 100 points to the winning team down to 40 for the sixth-place finisher.
In a bid to sell the action-packed Nitro concept globally, Bolt fronted the All-Stars-including athletes from Jamaica, the US and Kenya-against teams representing Australia, England, New Zealand, Japan and China.
