Bolt holds on to win 100 metres at final Golden Spike

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Usain Bolt overcame a slow start to win the 100 metres at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on Wednesday night as he gears up for a final World Championships in London in August.

In his second 100m outing of his final season, the Jamaican was slow off the blocks, but jumped ahead before the halfway point to finish in a time of 10.06 seconds, just edging Yunier Perez of Cuba, who ran a personal best 10.09 seconds.

Bolt, who has eight Olympic golds and 13 World Championship medals, will retire after the August championships.

The 30-year-old said he was not happy about clocking over 10 seconds for the second straight race, although he remained confident about the remainder of the season.

"I am not happy with the time, but I am just getting to my running," he said after his ninth and final appearance at the meet in the eastern Czech industrial city.

Bolt has become a regular at the Ostrava meet and his fans showed their appreciation at the end of the night, holding up placards to form the Jamaican flag as Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" played in the stadium.

"The biggest thing is always the crowd... That is why I keep coming back here. You guys are wonderful. Thanks for everything," Bolt said.

With Bolt moving closer to retirement, a number of athletes could be set to emerge from his shadow.

Among them is South African Wayde van Niekerk, who broke the 300m world record earlier in the evening, rubbing Michael Johnson out of the record books for the second time in less than a year.

The 24-year-old, who beat Johnson's 400m best at last summer's Rio Olympics, recorded a time of 30.81 seconds in the rarely-run 300m, bettering the American's previous mark of 30.85 seconds set in 2000.

Niekerk's time also beat the Ostrava meeting record set by Bolt in 2010.

"I have been improving in each and every one of my events so it is a great step for the year and I am feeling quite confident for the rest of the year," said the sprinter, who is expected to run the 200m and 400m in London in August.