Gemili joins Bolt, Blake and Gatlin in 200m semis
He wants 200m world record too
USAIN BOLT, like so many of us mere mortals, does not like mornings. But having breezed into the 200 metres semi-finals — jogging across the line in 20.28sec — that admission does little to dent his superhuman status.
The dream of a ‘triple triple’ of sprint titles — nine gold medals, in three events at three Olympics — lives on. But that is not his only reason for being here, Bolt also reaffirmed the ambition of breaking his own 200m world record of 19.19 sec set at the Berlin World Championships in 2009.
‘I will have enough rest and enough energy to definitely try for the world record,’ he said.
It might seem a fanciful thing to say, just days away from his 30th birthday and immediately after running a full second slower than that in his heat. But that does not tell the full story of the race.
When he entered the Joao Havelange Olympic stadium around lunchtime the Jamaican seemed his usual relaxed self.
In the warm-up room he had been dancing and joking with his rivals, and even stopped to high-five people in the crowd hanging over the barriers as he made his way to the start. He tugged at his yellow and green vest, stretching his arms into a crucifix position before settling into the blocks.
By the time he rounded the bend victory was assured and he switched off the motors, cruising over the line. The contrast was stark with the man on his right, Nigeria’s Ejowvokoghene Oduduru, eyeballs out just to finish in his wake in a personal best time of 20.34.
‘I’m feeling a little bit tired but it’s expected,’ said Bolt. ‘It’s the morning session and I’m not really a morning person. I see a lot of the young guys trying to run fast in the heat but for me it is important to win to qualify. I didn’t really run that hard out there.’
Bolt’s legend is assured and he is one-third of the way to increasing it with the unprecedented ‘triple triple’ of sprint titles, with the 100m gold medal already in his possession. The manner in which he won his heat suggests that the 200m gold should also be his with the 4x100m relay possibly to follow.
He’s had a lot of practice at refocusing for racing after winning medals so it has not proved too much of a problem this time round.
‘For me it’s easy because I’ve been doing this for years,’ said Bolt (right). ‘You just celebrate on the night, be happy, get all your congrats and then have to be focused to go again the next day. It was simple.’
Britain’s Adam Gemili also safely advanced to the semi-finals, finishing second in his heat in 20.20 with Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade just pipping him to the line. Gemili, who decided not to challenge for a spot on the British 100m team in Rio, has stated his aim is to win a medal. He will probably need to go quicker than his 19.98 personal best to stand any chance of doing that. ‘I obviously wanted to win, but I just tried to take it as chilled as I can,’ said Gemili. ‘I had a little glance over and saw Ashmeade was at the same level as me so I knew that we’d qualified well. ‘It was great to get out there and feel the track and experience the crowd. Now it feels like the Olympics because I’m actually competing.’ The biggest threat to Bolt defending his 200m crown is likely to come again from Justin Gatlin, who he beat to gold in the 100m final here. Gatlin, a twice convicted drugs cheat, had been booed on that occasion and afterwards pleaded for ‘respect in the audience’. It seemed his request was heeded as he was almost roundly cheered when introduced before easing to victory in 20.43. The other British 200m runners, Danny Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake also advanced. Charlie Grice was pushed over coming into the home straight in the 1500m heats and finished outside of the qualification places but was put through to the semi-finals on appeal, where he will join Scotland’s Chris O’Hare.