Express & Star

Usain's cousin: "I'm happy Justin won it."

Super sprinter Usain Bolt's cousin gave a surprising reaction to her famous relative's shock defeat at the World Championships.

Published
Maureen Davis

The revered Jamaican athlete who was competing for the last time in the 100m, in which he holds the 9.58sec world record, came third to former drugs cheat Justin Gatlin, in first place, and runner up Christian Coleman, in a final watched by millions around the world.

Maureen Davis, the runner's second cousin, watched the race with her husband and two sons at the family home in Bradmore, Wolverhampton.

She told the Express & Star: "He ran his best and was very magnanimous in defeat. I wasn't disappointed and I felt happy for Gatlin.

"I felt sorry for him, he's been doing it for so long, he deserved it. He's been naughty in the past but, like Usain, it was probably his last shot at it and he deserved to go out with a win."

Watching the race on TV, she spotted Usain's mother, her cousin, in the crowd but was not well enough to make the journey to the London Stadium herself.

The Jamaican-born former nurse last met up with jovial giant Bolt when he competed at the London Games five years ago.