Usain Bolt sounded an ominous warning to any of his rivals who may be harboring thoughts of spoiling his party as he seeks to win an unprecedented Olympic “triple-triple”.
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Other than the 2011 World Championships, when he was disqualified for a false start, Bolt has won every other global championship individual sprint race since 2008.
“I was nervous because the 200m is my favourite event. I’m exhausted now, but happy to be through”, Bolt said after his heat run. “I just want to continue and work like I did before”. The Jamaican needs only 41 steps as against the regular 45 of other competitors to cover 100m. “I’m exhausted now, but happy to be through. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s semi-finals”.
Bolt could scarcely have looked more comfortable in winning his heat yesterday (Tuesday), leading off the bend before nearly totally shutting down on the home straight and jogging over the line in 20.28sec.
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American LaShawn Merritt, who won bronze in the 400 on Sunday, also qualified for the 200 semis with a time of 20.15 (the fourth-best of the day), as did American Ameer Webb with a time of 20.31.
Not surprisingly, he did so, winning his heat with a time of 20.28.That was well off his world record of 19.19 as well as the day’s top time of 20.09 by Canada’s Andre De Grasse.
Admittedly it was “only” a morning session and Bolt, by his own admission, was merely intent on easing into the 200m semi-finals.
This year I was hoping I would be in good shape when my coach told me they were going to put on a 300m at a Grand Prix meet. “And Usain (Bolt) is chasing immortality and chasing a piece of history, so it is going to be exciting”, Blake said.
“This part between the 800m and the heats of the 1500m was always going to be the most hard part in qualifying for the semi-finals of the latter”.
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He had just won his second consecutive gold medal in the 100-meter dash, defending the title “fastest man in the world” against numerous challengers, some of them Americans.
