Jamaican superstar sprinter and current world record holder at 100 and 200 metres Usain Bolt won the first round against American sprinter Justin Gatlin when he won the gold medal in 100 metres, just 1/100 before Gatlin. Both runners have now advanced to the final in 200 metres, without too much trouble.
Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin under 20 seconds
In the qualifiers, Bolt jogged in at 20,28. In his semifinal he didn’t look to exhausted when doing his first 200 metres race under 20 seconds for the year (19,96). Gatlin impressed as well with 20,19 in the qualifier and 19,87 in the semifinal. So now we have an open final this Thursday, with two runners that haven’t really shown us where they stand. However, chances are Gatlin won’t tremble the last metres as he did in the 100 metres final so 200 metres will be decided by which runner have the best sprinting stamina. Gatlin is unbeaten in the half-lap event since 2013. However, Bolt is self-secure:
“For me, my 200 is my best event,” Bolt said. “I live for this, so I’m looking forward to it. I know I’m going to do well.”
Bolt won the 200 metres in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and have been unbeaten at the distance in all major World Championships and Olympic games since then. In the 2011 Daegu World Championships where Bolt got disqualified for a false start at 100 metres, he bounced back and won the gold in 200 metres. He looked very relaxed in his semifinal and we are looking forward to round 2 in the duel between Bolt and Gatlin in the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
British runners Danny Talbot and Zharnel Hughes advanced to the final as well. Panama’s Alonso Edward finished second behind Gatlin, with the time 20.02. South African Anasco Jobodwana got a new personal best, 20,01, finishing second behind Bolt. Femi Ogunde went through as well. As well as Gatlin, he has a history of serving a doping ban.Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev crossed the finish line at 20,10 and advanced to the final as well.
