The 29-year-old got out of the blocks quicker than the usually explosive Gatlin on his inside and was ahead halfway round the bend before the American picked up speed and briefly looked like he might threaten the champion. “I just want to go out and execute my race and hopefully get a medal”.
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Prior to losing in the 100-meter final at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing on Sunday to Jamaican sprint sensation Usain Bolt, 29, Gatlin had been the dominant force in the sport all of this year to the chagrin of die-hard track fans.
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“I know he was a bit sore coming out of the 100, which is understandable because the things he’s missing is the kind of competitive edge that allows you to go maximum speed”, Mills said.
“I knew all my rivals in this race and everything about them so I was very confident in the last 400 meters”.
“Sometimes it has to be fuel”, Gatlin told The Associated Press as he left the Bird’s Nest to cool down at the nearby practice field following a preliminary heat of 20.19 seconds.
“I’m just trying to get it done, that’s my focus tomorrow”.
BEIJING – Usain Bolt returned to the track at the world championships Tuesday and eased his way through the preliminary round of his favorite race, the 200 meters. “My aim is to be the best athlete ever”. I’m looking forward to that.
Along with the 200, the women’s 5,000 and men’s 1500 kick off on day six at the world championships, too.
Gatlin was banned from global competition for two years in 2001 after he tested positive for amphetamines. All eyes will again be on Bolt and Gatlin on Thursday, however, after Sunday’s electrifying 100m, which was billed as a battle for the soul of athletics.
Puffing his cheeks out and swinging his arms high, though, Bolt pulled away down the home straight for an ultimately comfortable victory, thumping his chest with his fists as he crossed the line.
Danny Talbot will not join Hughes in the final despite clocking a 20.27 personal best in the semi won by Bolt, while elsewhere for Team GB there was frustration for Eilidh Child as the reigning European champion finished sixth in the 400m hurdles final.
Along with Rutherford’s gold, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill have also claimed world titles in Beijing, in the 10,000m and heptathlon, mirroring the trio’s feats on the same fever-pitch night at the London Olympics in 2012.
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