Bolt completes Olympic double

BEIJING, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Jamaica's Usain Bolt completed the Olympic sprint double Wednesday by winning the 200-meter dash in world record time.

Just as he did in the 100 last Saturday, Bolt destroyed the best crop of sprinters the world has to offer. He turned in a time of 19.30, beating the world mark of 19.32 set by American Michael Johnson in Atlanta 12 years ago.

Bolt became the ninth runner in Olympic history to win both sprints and is the first to do so since Carl Lewis pulled off the feat in the Los Angeles Games of 1984. Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles won the silver, only the second Olympic medal ever for his country, and American Shawn Crawford took the bronze.

Crawford won the event in Athens four years ago but neither he nor Martina could come within a half second of Bolt. The United States' disappointments in track and field grew when Wallace Spearmon stepped outside his lane and was disqualified. That didn't cost the Americans a medal, however, since his third-place finish was taken over by Crawford.

In the only other two finals at the track Wednesday -- Aksana Miankova of Belarus won the women's hammer throw and Melanie Walker of Jamaica took the 400 hurdles.

American Sheena Tosta won silver in the hurdles and her medal, along with Crawford's, were the only ones claimed by the United States at any Olympic venue Wednesday.