World-record holder Usain Bolt did not have almost the fastest time in the preliminary rounds of the men’s 200-meter dash, but that was partly because he slowed down so much near the finish line while leading his heat that he could have been pushing a grocery cart. He already owns both the world record at 19.19, and Olympic record at 19.30.
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“He said: ‘It’s rare that an athlete should have such widespread respect at such a young age, but his conduct, performance credentials and ability to unite people is one of the best I’ve ever seen in all my time working in athletics”. I didn’t want to go out.
The 22-year old will line up in today’s 200m heats brimming with confidence after a season’s best 22.07 seconds at the Anniversary Games in London.
“I’m not an early-morning person”, said Bolt, whose race began at 12:45 p.m. local time.
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Nevertheless, the Jamaican’s knack of achieving the improbable means it would be unwise to definitively bet against him.
Bolt secured the 100 metres title on Sunday to take another step on the path to an unprecedented third successive sweep of all three Olympic sprint titles-100, 200 and 4×100 metres.
“I know how to run the 200”, Bolt said.
“The coach said “just go out there run the turn and make sure you get the lead going into the straight and keep on to it”.
“I was exhausted and I’m never exhausted before the 100-meter”, he added. “It was ridiculous as far as I’m concerned”.
“I wanted to set myself apart from everybody else and this is the Olympics, I have to do it”. I felt so good in the semi-final.
He celebrated his big win with his signature move – the “To Di World” pose. “I came close to the line and I looked up at the screen because I didn’t even know where I placed”. The legendary athlete silenced all doubts over his form with a brisk 9.86 seconds to win the second semi-final in the event.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: “I’ll party with Harry and teach him the running man”.
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By the time the 10th and final heat ended, Bolt had only recorded the 15th-fastest time of 77 sprinters who lined up.
