Every once in a while you get something unexpected at a meet like this, and in Greece it came in the form of Carmelita Jeter's 10.67 dash down the track. How good was Jeter's run? Well, for starters, it was the 5th fastest time in history. Only Marion Jones (once) and FloJo (three times) ever ran faster. And when taken into account that Jeter's time came with a slight negative wind, and all but FloJo's incredible 10.49 came with winds of 1.0 mps or greater, it may well have been the second best performance ever only behind the WR itself! And take note that Marion's single better performance also came at the altitude of Johannesburg South Africa.
In Greece second place went to Olympic and World Champion Shelly Ann Fraser in an outstanding 10.89, yet she was barely in the picture! Such was Jeter's dominance in this race. Out well, but still behind Fraser who typically owns the start, Jeter began a drive at 30 meters that never ended as she blew past the field and simply kept going to the tape. With nary a waver in her stride she eclipsed and outstanding field - leaving the 5th (Fraser) and 7th (Kerron Stewart) fastest women in history looking very mortal in her wake. In short, Jeter's performance was nothing short of Boltian in nature!
Mr. Bolt was in attendance too - once again destroying another 200 field. This time tying Tyson Gay's meet record of 19.68. Which I found both ironic and interesting. Because in all of Bolt's record breaking in the event the past two seasons, the two have not met in the event since the Osaka final in 2007 (won by Gay) as Gay did not compete in the event in either Beijing or Berlin due to injury. Leaving Bolt to terrorize the rest of the world at will - something he has done quite well as his victory here was once again a half second (.53)!
After the performances of Jeter and Bolt, everything else paled in comparison. Solid competition as we had on day one, and close in many cases. But day two belonged to Jeter and Bolt.
For full results click here. A great end to the season. While there are other meets left, things are clearly winding down, and this was the last large gathering of elite athletes for the season!
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