Usain Bolt wins 100 at Golden Spike in 9.98

Usain Bolt used his strong finish to win the 100 meters in 9.98 seconds at the Golden Spike meet on Friday.

Bolt recovered from a slow start but pulled ahead in the second half of the race to breeze unchallenged to the victory.

With the time, Bolt improved on his season's best of 10.05 in the Cayman Islands on Saturday. After that first race of the season, he needed treatment on a tight hamstring in Germany on the way to the Czech Republic.

He didn't appear to be limited on Friday though his time was still far from his world record of 9.58 in 2009.

"My reaction was good," Bolt said about the start. "The power behind the start wasn't there. I didn't execute.

Ahead of the race, he said he would be happy with a time of 9.8.

"I had to get to work a little bit harder at the end to get up the speed," Bolt said. "If I can improve that it should be OK."

Bolt is also scheduled to race in the London Diamond League meet on July 22 in his only other competition in Europe, two weeks before the Rio de Janeiro Games.

"This is a very important season. This is a very big year for me," he added.

Ramon Gittens of Barbados finished second in 10.21 while Hassan Taftian of Iran was third in 10.25. It was the eighth time Bolt has raced at the Golden Spike. In 2012, he won the 100 in Ostrava in 10.04, a poor time by his standards, before he won three more gold medals at the London Olympics. He also his first three golds at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Also at the event, Canadian track star Brianne Theisen-Eaton won her 100m hurdles event in 13.20 seconds.

Reigning world pole vault champion Shawn Barber placed second in his event with a clearance of 5.70, behind his main rival, Renaud Lavillenie of France (5.83).