“I said, ‘What are you doing?”
Advertisement
There was no disputing the depth of 100m hurdles talent on the US team, with world record holder Kendra Harrison and 2008 Olympic champion Dawn Harper failing to make the cut, but to take all three medals was more than they could have hoped for.
Usain Bolt ran his fastest time of the season to win his Olympic 200m semi-final in 19.78 seconds as Justin Gatlin missed out on a place in the final.
Just minutes after Bolt had cruised through the field before winding down in the closing stages and sharing a smile with Canada’s Andre De Grasse, Gatlin was beaten in the final straight to end his hopes of gold.
Also parading the stars and stripes were long-jumpers Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese, who finished 1-2, steeplechaser Evan Jager, who won silver earlier in the day, and Tori Bowie, who added a 200-meter bronze to her 100 silver.
“I want to push for gold, and even if I don’t get it, I got to push [Bolt] to his potential, his limits and see what he has left”, De Grasse said.
Thompson became the first woman since Marion Jones in 2000 to win both Olympic sprints. They laughed throughout the last several meters and still somehow managed to finish first and second, ahead of every other competitor in the semifinals. When he began coasting down the stretch, feeling he had the race won like so many times before, De Grasse kept going strong and made up the ground between them. He wagged his finger at the up-and-comer as they crossed the line. “So I don’t know what the solution is”. He routinely trounces his competition when it looks like he’s not even trying.
American sprinter Justin Gatlin, who took silver in the 100-meter, missed qualifying for the men’s 200-meter final.
“I’m happy to still be here (for the relays)”, he told reporters.
Another multi-sport athlete is Bartoletta, who won world championships 10 years apart in 2005 and 2015 and came to Rio de Janeiro hoping to medal in both the 100 meters and the long jump. “It’s a semifinal.’ But I think he wanted to push me”.
Bolt, in search of his eighth Olympic gold, considers the 200 his best race and, in the past, has taken umbrage with anyone who suggests they might beat him.
Advertisement
“Now, it’s (about) executing right, running the corner efficiently, and coming in the straight and running the ideal race”, he said.
