United States’ Justin Gatlin looks at his time from a menís 200m semifinal at the World Athletics Championships at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, Wednesday, August 26, 2015.
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The remarkable Usain Bolt again relegated controversial American Justin Gatlin to the silver-medal position in the men’s 200m final at the world championships on Thursday night.
The influence of Jesse Owens will extend to the world championships, where the daughter of the Olympic great will present the gold medal to the winning team in the men’s 4×100-meter relay on Sunday.
I have yet to spot a DeLorean or a flux capacitor being jiggled into action but you can’t help thinking that just around the bend in Beijing there’s a squeaky youth in a bodywarmer and a mad doctor wondering how the hell they’re going to get the 1.21 gigawatts to fly home.
“My fitness will be in question, but, overall, it should be good”, added Bolt, whose world record 19.19 (Berlin 2009), 19.40 (Daegu 2011) and 19.66 (Moscow) are the three fastest times ever recorded in a World Championships 200m final.
Anguillan young gun Zharnel Hughes, who trains with Bolt in Jamaica but runs for Britain, edged the fifth heat in 20.13 courtesy of his dip for the line, while Panama’s Alonso Edwards ran 20.11 to win the second.
This season was supposed to be Gatlin’s best chance to challenge Bolt and despite the best times of his career at 33, he still came up short when it counted. “I knew I could win a medal, but to be world champion is not easy”. “I’m more professional with 200m, I didn’t have to expend a lot of energy”.
Usain Bolt won gold this afternoon in the 200m final, but was lucky to escape injury in the moments after the race. Two of the best runners at the distance – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Allyson Felix – are sitting this one out.
The Olympic champion and world-record holder will wear a specially designed cooling hood over the two-day competition that begins Friday.
Bolt beat Gatlin when they clashed for the first time this year in the 100 metres final. “I’m just going to prepare myself for next year, for the Olympics and come out even stronger”. After two years of doubt and worries that age had started to affect the bearded champion at 29, he again displayed the wide grin of a teenager.
“He’s a true competitor”, said the 33-year-old Gatlin. I ran maybe 90 per cent.
“Showing people that when it comes to the big time, I always show up and get things done”, Bolt said.
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Shamier Little and Cassandra Tate finished 2-3 in the 400-meter hurdles to round out the U.S. haul and bring the total to nine medals over the first five days of the championships.
