Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica shattered his 200 metres world record when he clocked 19.19 seconds to win the world championship gold medal in Berlin, Germany. He beat the mark of 19.30 he had set a year ago to the day at the Beijing Olympics. Bolt has become the only man ever to hold the 100 and 200 Olympic and world titles as well as the world records at the same time. Panama's Alonso Edward was second with a time of 19.81 and American Wallace Spearmon third. The top five sprinters all clocked under 20 seconds. Bolt, a day short of his 23rd birthday, was unfazed by a false start triggered by Frenchman David Alerte and played up to the cameras in his usual way. Jamaican Olympic champion Melaine Walker ran the second fastest women's 400 metres hurdles of all time to win the world title in 52.42 seconds.The 110 metre hurdles world record holder and Olympic champion Dayron Robles of Cuba failed to make the final after pulling up injured during his semi-final. In the final, Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados won world championship gold in a thrilling finish where the first three were divided by only a hundredth of a second.
