Jamaican Yohan Blake, one of Bolt’s primary competitors in this event, qualified for the semis with the third-best time – 20.13 seconds, while American LaShawn Merritt is into the semis after winning his heat with a time of 20.15 seconds, which tied him for fourth.
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Pensacola’s Justin Gatlin, smoothly handled the first step in the 200 meters with his eyes set on picking up another medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.
Usain Bolt celebrates after winning the Men’s 100m Final.
That’s how the quest began for his final individual sprint gold at the Olympics – a jog through the sunshine in the opening round of the 200 meters and a stress-free victory in the ninth heat of Tuesday’s qualifying.
Bolt is halfway through what may be the final chapter of a historic Olympic “triple-double” in the men’s sprints, as he hopes to add the 200m gold to the 100m crown for the third consecutive Games. More importantly, he coasted into the finish line after triple-checking on Nigeria’s Ejowvokoghene Oduduru simply to make sure nothing insane was happening.
Taylor beat Claye to gold in London four years ago and his first-round jump of 17.86m proved enough to top the podium for a second time. “I’m not an early morning person”.
Usain Bolt after his 100m race at the Beijing Olympics.
Australia’s Alex Hartmann, making his Olympic debut, was fifth in his heat in 21.02 but did not qualify for the semi-finals.
“I wanted to win the heat but the bends are really tight coming out of there”, Gemili told the BBC.
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.
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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. Though many questioned that he seemed so lax with his qualifying run, Bolt said that he is determined to show the world that he could possibly break his own record.
