July 26 - Usain Bolt returned to the scene of his three gold medals at London 2012 as he once again dazzled the Olympic Stadium at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games, an event held to mark a year since the Games opened here.The Olympic flame may have been removed from the Stadium but the Jamaican, winner of the 100 and 200 metres and 4x100m for the second consecutive Olympics last year, still managed to light up the arena on the first day of this two-day event.
He recovered from a terrible start to emphatically burst clear of American Michael Rodgers and compatriot Nester Carter to win in 9.85sec, his fastest of the season.
Former world champion Kim Collins finished fourth ahead of Britain's Dwain Chambers, after his teammate James Dasaolu - who had won 9.91 earlier in the month - withdrew shortly before the race due to injury.
Elsewhere, there were world leading performances from the Czech Republic's 400m hurdler Zusana Hejnova and American 3,000m runner Shannon Rowbury, while Ukraine's Bohdan Bondarenko had two narrow failures at a world record height of 2.47 metres after already securing victory in the high jump.
Yet there was no doubt which performance the crowd had enjoyed most as Bolt's introduction was accompanied a wave of 60,000 flashbulbs across the stadium.
He had begun the evening by by being transported into the arena in a gigantic metallic vehicle, described as a "rocket ship".
"I felt great, I'm so excited to be here again," said Bolt.
"I had a bad start it's not the best part of my game but I did okay.
"It's so wonderful to compete in London, it's a brilliant experience to be here again."
But he was nearly upstaged by 23-year-old Bondarenko, who had finished only seventh in this Stadium a year ago in the Olympics.
Having won the competition with a clearance of 2.38m at his his first attempt,?Bondarenko failed once at 2.43m before his two attempts at 2.47m, which both came close to breaking the world record of 2.45m set by Cuba's Javier Sotomayor in 1993.
Hejnova won in a world leading time of 53.07 to break her own national record, finishing ahead of?Britain's Perri Shakes Drayton came second in a personal best of 53.67, roared on by a passionate home crowd which evoked memories of the atmosphere Team GB athletes had enjoyed during London 2012.
But, just as they did mostly during the Olympics, they also appreciated the efforts of the international athletes.
"I love it here, it's very nice here with great memories from the Olympic Games" said Hejnova, who had won the bronze medal at London 2012.?
In what proved a good night for American athletes, Rowbury ran 8min 41.46sec to win the 3,000m in a clean sweep ahead of compatriots Gabriele Anderson and early pacesetter Molly Huddle.
Grenada's Kirani James, whose victory was so unexpected and joyous here last year, enjoyed a happy return as he won the 400m in?44.65.
Over 200m, Jamaican national champion and Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir won ?in 19.89 ahead of compatriot Jason Young.
It illustrated that the gap between Jamaican sprinters and the rest of the world remains as vast as ever - although, with so many top names from that country having tested positive recently, including former world 100m record holder Asafa Powell, suspicions will continue to linger.
There was a Diamond League record for Cuba's Yarisley Silva in the pole vault, with the Olympic silver medallist winning in 4.83 metres and beating the women who finished ahead of her in London, Jennifer Suhr, who cleared 4.73m for second as Fabiana Murer of Brazil placed third.
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