LAUSANNE, July 9 – World record sprinter Usain Bolt powered past seven rivals to win his first sprint since an achilles tendon injury sidelined him for over a month at the Diamond League meet here Thursday.
The Jamaican outran his opponents comfortably, racing across the finish line in a time of 9.82 seconds.
Asked if he felt any pain during the run, Bolt replied: "Slightly."
But he quickly added that he "would not say it was painful, but that it takes time to heal."
Overall, the world champion assessed: "I was feeling extremely nice and good.
"It’s getting better and the weather was warm so it was good."
Fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake came second with 9.96s while Churandy Martina took third with 10.16s.
Bolt, the world record holder for 100 metres and 200 metres, had decided to run the sprint instead of the 200 in order to avoid any new injury, the organisers of the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne had said ahead of the event.
He said he would still have to "go back to the doctor to ask" when he should take on a 200 metres race.
Bolt had missed another Diamond League event in New York last month due to his injury.
