Bolt Beaten by Blake in 100 Meters at Jamaican Olympic Trials

Yohan Blake upset world record holder Usain Bolt in the 100-meter final last night at the trials for the Jamaican Olympic team.

Blake, the reigning world champion, clocked a personal-best time of 9.75 seconds in Kingston to beat the defending Olympic champion by 0.11 seconds. Only Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay have ever run faster.

Powell finished third in 9.88 seconds to join Blake and Bolt on Jamaica’s sprint team for the London Games next month.

“I am happy with becoming the national champion,” Blake said on the website of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport’s governing body. “I won the world championships last year, now the national championship, so I now go to the Olympic Games.”

Blake captured the world title last year in Daegu, South Korea, after defending champion Bolt was disqualified for a false start. Last night was Bolt’s first loss in a 100-meter race, excluding the disqualification, in almost two years, according to the IAAF.

“I had trouble getting out, but I kept feeling like I could not give up,” said Bolt, who set the world mark of 9.58 seconds at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.

The London Olympic Games will be held from July 27 to Aug. 12.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Bensch in London at bbensch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net