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Sluggish Bolt comes from behind to win in Rome

Usain Bolt grimaces on his way to victory © PA Photos

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Usain Bolt was forced to come from behind to win on his first appearance of the season at the Diamond League meeting in Rome, the world record holder running down fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell in the final 30 metres to win the 100m in 9.91seconds.

Bolt, racing for the first time since suffering a rare loss at the hands of Tyson Gay in Stockholm in August last year, got a poor start and trailed his compatriot by half a metre at one stage.

However, despite not being at his fluent best, triple world and Olympic champion Bolt dug deep to chase down his compatriot with the finishing line approaching. Powell, who leads the standings after his win in Shanghai, ran 9.93 to take second while double European champion Christophe Lemaitre came third.

"It was not perfect but I'm very happy. It could have been better, but I'm now looking forward to my second race (of the season)," said Bolt. "The important thing was that I got the win. It's good for confidence and the season."

Britain's world and European champion Phillips Idowu comfortably won the men's triple jump with a leap of 17.59m. Former Olympic champion Christian Olsson had taken control of the event after a first-round effort of 17.29m, but Idowu's second jump proved too big for the Swede to overhaul.

European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene got his season off to an encouraging start by finishing second behind South Africa's LJ van Zyl, who is clearly the man to beat after he broke the 48-second barrier for a third time this year.

In the final race of the evening, Chris Brown won the non-Diamond League 400m in 45.16s. Britain's Martyn Rooney was in a great position coming off the final bend but ran out of steam in the final 70m to finish in 46.12.

More to follow

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