The fastest man on the planet wasn’t even the second-fastest guy on the track Saturday when Usain Bolt placed third at the Camperdown Classic in Kingston, Jamaica.
He was beaten by his two training partners, Warren Weir and Yohan Blake — the two men who stood below him on the podium after the trio finished 1-2-3 in the 200 at the London Olympics, when Bolt ran a blistering 19.32 to capture the gold:
On Saturday, Bolt finished the 400-meter event with a time of 46.71. Weir won in 46.21, while Blake took second in 46.64.
The Camperdown Classic has no final — the best heat time wins — so Bolt didn’t have a chance to redeem himself in direct competition with his countrymen rivals. He cruised to victory against lesser competition in his heat, while Weir and Blake faced off head-to-head in theirs.
Here’s Bolt’s heat:
Here’s Blake and Weir’s heat:
Bolt, the world-record holder in the 100 and 200, is known to run the 400 for early-season conditioning. This was basically a training run, and the Camerperdown Classic is a low-profile event (run by the Racers Track Club). But whenever Bolt is beaten it’s a headline, and this was his first competition of the season.
As quoted by Reuters, Bolt took the loss in stride:
I’m happy, I’ve never been so nervous running a 400m but overall I’m happy. Physically I felt good, not as good as I normally would, but overall I feel good. I didn’t matter about the time, I just wanted to complete this race, I know I may have one more for the season, maybe two depending on what the coach wants.