Usain Bolt far from best but still wins first race of the season

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt scraped a win in his first 100m of the season with a 10.09sec clocking at the Cayman Invitational.

The Jamaican edged out compatriot Kemar Bailey-Cole in a photo finish, and was far from his 9.58sec world record best.

Bolt pulled out of the Kingston Invitational last Saturday with a hamstring problem, but the 26-year-old refused to blame his below-par performance on the injury.

"It was just a bad race," he said. "I just have to go back and figure out with my coach what went wrong.

"I felt it (hamstring injury) slightly. It wasn't a bothering pain so I can't blame it on that."

The six-time Olympic gold medallist began his 2012 campaign in similar fashion, however, with a tame 10.04sec at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, just days before clocking a world leading time of 9.76sec at the Rome Golden Gala.

He then went on to defend his triple Olympic crown at the London Games in August.

In the women's event at the Cayman Invitational, American Carmelita Jeter became the first to finish in under 11 seconds in the 100 metres, winning with a time of 10.95.