Images of the Jamaican track superstar Bolt smiling while sprinting toward the finish line ahead of the pack have become fodder for online memes. The manner in which he won his heat suggests that by Thursday evening, local time, the 200m gold will also be his with the 4x100m possibly to follow.
Advertisement
If Bolt’s run looked a little too casual, he has a good explanation.
“I was nervous because the 200m is my favourite event”.
“It’s the morning session and I’m not a morning person”.
Bolt’s heat was at about 1 p.m. local time, but he probably had to get up earlier than he would have liked to arrive and prepare for the day’s race. It must be nice to live the life of a champion. But Getty photographer Cameron Spencer happened to capture the runner just as he turned his head and smiled as though to say, “Yeah, I’m gonna beat these guys”.
“I’m a little bit exhausted now”, claimed Bolt after the race. “But was as expected, the first one”.
Hard to tell that from the ninth heat in which Bolt, the two-time defending gold medalist in the event, started fast and appeared to close things down with some 90 meters to go en route to a 20.28, more than a second off his world record of 19.19.
“I am lucky to be here because sometimes during the dark days I didn’t think I’d ever make it back to the Olympics”.
Bolt’s first-round run tied for the 15th best time of the qualifying heats.
He qualified in second in his heat with a time of 20.24, coming in behind Canadian Andre De Grasse, who took the bronze medal in the 100m final.
Advertisement
American Ameer Webb had to sweat it out to qualify on time after finishing third in the same heat, which was won by Bruno Hortelano in a Spanish record time of 20.12, but his 20.31 ultimately proved quick enough to keep him in the competition.
