THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP):

Usain Bolt lined up for a race against a 5-year-old local boy, and lost.

The short run through a cheering crowd yesterday, however, certainly won't diminish Bolt's status as the top sprinter in the world or dampen expectations for another victory tomorrow at the World Athletics Final.

warm reception

"It was really fun with the kids," said Bolt, who was cheered on by about 200 students on a Thessaloniki street and smiled as he let the boy finish first. "A very warm reception."

Bolt is one of about 300 athletes that will compete in the two-day meet at Kaftanzoglio stadium. The Jamaican, who set world records in both the 100 and 200 metres at last month's world championships in Berlin, will only run in the longer of the two races this weekend. Sprint rivals Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay will run against each other in the 100.

Although Bolt is not predicting another world record, he is ready to win.

"If the crowd is really energetic, I can do well," said Bolt, who has withdrawn from meets in China and South Korea because of fatigue. "It was my coach's decision, really. ... I was getting a little tired."

The world's best athletes will gather in northern Greece to compete in 36 events. Participants were invited based on a points system from Golden League and IAAF Grand Prix track meets.

The winners in each event will receive $30,000. A world record will be worth an extra $100,000.

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele and American runner Sanya Richards, who split the $1 million Golden League jackpot for winning their events in all six meets this season, are all competing.

Isinbayeva, who lost her world title in Berlin after failing to clear a height, is expected to go for another world record. She set the outdoor record of 5.06 metres on August 31 in Zurich.

Bekele, as usual, is the favourite to win the 5,000, and Richards will run in the 200 on Saturday before competing in the 400, the event in which she won the world title, a day later.

Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic, who is edging ever closer to the world record, is also scheduled to compete.