World record holder Usain Bolt brought a flash of Jamaican sunshine to another miserable European evening when he raced to 100 metres victory in 9.91 seconds at the London Grand Prix on Friday.
The triple Olympic champion, who has had to overcome wind or rain in virtually every "summer" outing as he prepares for next month's world championships in Berlin, faced a 1.7-metre headwind but cruised home ahead of 19-year-old compatriot Yohan Blake (10.11).
Blake, who ran 9.93 last week, is the latest sprinter to roll off the Jamaican production line and left compatriot and former world record holder Asafa Powell trailing in sixth in 10.26 seconds.
Bolt's presence drew a 16,000 capacity crowd, many dressed in the yellow and green of Jamaica, and he delivered a trademark dance after an impressive run during which he led after 20 metres before easing home.
"It's a Jamaican crowd so it was always going to be good for me," said Bolt, who last week posted 9.79 on a rainy night in Paris. "That's just me, the crowd loves it so I'll just continue."
It was not all good news for the Caribbean island however as Bolt's victory came hours after it was announced five unnamed Jamaicans had been withdrawn from the world championships after testing positive for a banned substance.
All five tested positive for a "minor substance" after last month's national championships in Kingston.
RELAY TEAM
Two of them were members of the newly formed Racers Track Club who were due to provide a team for the 4x100 relay at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
"If it's somebody from our group I can't comment," said Bolt, who is also part of the relay team. "It's sad for the sport, it's a step backwards but it shows if people take drugs they get caught.
"It just takes hard work and I don't think some people want to work that hard."
The 22-year-old will do his best to distance himself from the controversy when he continues his build-up for the August 15-23 world championships in Berlin.
Tyson Gay, who leads the way over 100 this season with a best time of 9.77, looks Bolt's biggest rival and the American runs over 200 on Saturday when the two-day meeting ends.
While Bolt remains a huge favourite for Berlin, a chink appeared in the armour of pole vault world record holder and world and Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva as she was beaten into second place on countback by Pole Anna Rogowska.
The Russian, with a best effort of 5.05 metres, suffered her first defeat of the season and looked sluggish in needing three attempts to clear her opening height of 4.68 before failing all three at 4.78.
"I'm not in form, I think I'm tired from competitions but I'm confident for Berlin," said Isinbayeva, who has won the last two world titles.
Cuba's 110 hurdles world record holder Dayron Robles was also close to a first defeat this year but just held off Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados in a fierce headwind to win in 13.29 seconds.
"It felt like a cyclone in my face," he said.
Debbie Ferguson McKenzie, 33, who has appeared in both sprint finals in the last three Olympics, said "age is nothing but a number" after winning the 200 in 23.11 seconds.
"You get better with age, like a fine wine," added the Bahamanian, who said she hoped to run both sprints in Berlin.
