American women outdo Bolt; Gatlin misses 200m final
RIO DE JANEIRO — It’s no easy thing to push Usain Bolt, even in an Olympic warm-up race.
Might be even tougher upstaging him.
But that happened on a wild Wednesday night in track. It began with the Jamaican star smiling, then wagging his finger at a brash up-and-comer in the 200meter semifinals. It kept going with another Jamaican, Elaine Thompson, completing the first 100-200 women’s double since 1988. And it closed with an American sweep of the hurdles to put the cherry on top of a sevenmedal day for the United States on the track.
Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin finished 1-2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles to give the United States its first sweep in the event and only its seventh in the history of Olympic track.
It was a not-all-unexpected result, though this might be an eyeopener: Both 2008 champion Dawn Harper-Nelson and the current world-record holder, Keni Harrison, were back home watching on TV after failing to crack the top three at the Olympic trials.
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.
“Who wouldn’t be thankful for another medal?” Bowie said. “Now, I have two.”
The evening’s most entertaining theatre came, as usual, from Bolt, who will go for his eighth Olympic gold medal Thursday.
His main goal during the opening rounds is to conserve energy, which is exactly what he was doing when he looked to his right, saw Canada’s Andre de Grasse a few steps behind and put it on cruise control.
Only problem was, de Grasse didn’t back down. He sped up, caught up and, suddenly, the two were nose to nose, smiling at each other down the stretch. Bolt finished in 19.78 to win by a scant .02 seconds. He wagged his finger at the up-and-comer as they crossed the line.
“That was really unnecessary,” Bolt said. “I don’t know what he was trying to do. He’s a young kid, he’s great. He has a lot of talent. I’m looking forward to the competition in the final.”
One man who won’t be there is Justin Gatlin, who has given Bolt more run for his money than anyone over the past four years. In the evening’s biggest stunner, Gatlin finished third in his heat and did not qualify for the final.
A lost medal opportunity for the Americans, for sure. But they’re ahead of the game.
Their wins Wednesday gave them 19 for the meet, which is already one more than they won through the entire world championships last year in Beijing.
Decathlete Ashton Eaton is a candidate to add to that haul. The defending champion finished Day 1 with a solid 121-point lead over Kai Kazmirek of Germany.
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. The 100 didn’t go well, but the long jump did. Bartoletta jumped 7.17 meters on her fifth of six attempts. Reese, the defending Olympic champion, had one last shot to pass her but came up two centimeters short.
“I wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders and had to go [back] after the 100 and refocus,” Bartoletta said.