Leading article: Lightning blow

As their collective gasp of astonishment indicated, it was certainly a bolt from the blue as far as thousands of spectators at the World Athletics Championship in Korea were concerned. Usain Bolt has been called the lightning bolt in homage to his speed as a sprinter. But yesterday the triple Olympic champion's lightning struck too early, after his false start off the blocks in Daegu resulted in his dramatic disqualification from the men's 100m final.

It was a stunning reversal of fortune for the favourite, and another reminder of how in sport, as in most other fields of human activity, great expectations can so easily end in unpleasant surprises.