Daegu IAAF : Saturday Usain Bolt 200m Finals

Saturday, September 03, 2011
Daegu, South Korea
The weekend events tended to be a bit more of a celebration. Many athletes were doing victory laps to cheers from the crowds. There were many medal ceremonies for the finals. We had to keep standing for different national anthems. USA, Russia, and Jamaica were the most played, but we also got to hear UK, Canada, Germany, and one or two others.

Canada won Gold in the womens wheelchair race and this was the only time I heard the Canadian anthem played . Korean athletes always got the wildest cheers when they entered but I never saw them win any events. Kenya had a strong finish in both mens and womens distance running.

Video : Canada Anthem - Womens Wheelchair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lG8ThBSEkA

The crowds also got in quite a fever pitch and managed to get a wave started going around the arena. I counted it four times round the ring. Another fun interlude act was "Dance Time" and "Kiss Time" when random spectators were chosen on camera to fulfill their task. The jamaicans were easy pickings for dance time, they were easy to spot in the stadium with their colours and flag and were always enthusiastic performers.

Video : Crowds doing the Wave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJYPvVrdPvE

Video : Dance Time Audience Interlude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKbWMWc3nic

The biggest star of the evening and the final event was Usain Bolt's Mens 200m Final . After his dissapointing start last sunday when he was disqualified from the mens 100m final, this was the race crowds had been waiting to see. He entertained the audience by playing along with the cartoon of the mascot telling people to 'shoosh' and be quiet.

Video : Usain Bolt Mens 200m Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvT5VB4OSAQ 

Usain was victorious in his event and easily won, despite a strong French contender Christophe Lemaitre. He was greeted by a large group of media at the finish line who followed him on his victory lap, sometimes mobbing him. Usain also entertained with his signature dance which I'm sure will make it onto youtube and some music videos.

Usain was undoubtebly the star of tonights events, and failed to dissapoint the many spectators, some of whom were crowded as high as the stadium ceiling.
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