The defining moment of the 2011 World Championships came at 20:43 on Sunday, August 28 when at the beginning of the 100m final, the biggest name in athletics – Usain Bolt – was disqualified for a false start. The Jamaican star immediately knew he was at fault and ripped off his shirt in disgust as soon as the runners were recalled. The equipment showed that he had moved 0.104 before the gun. After the shocked crowd fell silent, the race got off at the second time of asking, with 2003 champion Collins taking a small but clear lead from Bolt’s training partner Blake. It took the Jamaican 50m to catch the 2003 champion, but he then went clear to win by almost two metres from Dix, who just caught Collins on the line. It was felt that the winning time was worth around 9.85 in windless conditions.
Unlike Jon Drummond eight years earlier, Bolt did not complain about the rules. “Looking for tears?” he asked a small group of reporters after the race. “Not going to happen. I’m okay.” There were a total of 10 false start disqualifications in Daegu compared with three in Berlin and five in Osaka, though of course in those years there were many more false starts allowed as the instant disqualification rule did not come into force until January 2010.
A first for these championships was the staging of a “preliminary” round for athletes in the 100m who did not have at least a Daegu “B” qualifying time (10.25). Those who advanced from that stage joined the pre-qualified performers in the first of three remaining rounds.