Usain Bolt will race the 200m final on Thursday after comfortably winning his semi-final, but there was no place for American rival Justin Gatlin as he failed to qualify
Justin Gatlin (right) competes in the men's 200m semi-final in Rio on Wednesday. Pic/AFP
Rio de Janeiro: Usain Bolt will race the 200m final on Thursday after comfortably winning his semi-final, but there was no place for American rival Justin Gatlin as he failed to qualify.
Justin Gatlin (right) competes in the men's 200m semi-final in Rio on Wednesday. Pic/AFP
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Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, tied up late in his semi-final, blaming a stiff ankle as he finished third in 20.13sec to miss out on one of the eight final berths. It was a different story for Bolt, however, who clocked a season's best of 19.78sec in the next step on his quest for an unprecedented sprint 'triple triple'.
"I wasn't fully surprised," Bolt said of Gatlin's elimination. "I thought he would have made it. But I could tell in the 100m he was feeling the pain and he was slowing down. It's just the fact you're getting old. To double at a championship where the young guys are stepping up is really hard."
Gatlin, who won 100m silver behind Bolt at the weekend, explained that he had not fully recovered from rolling his right ankle in late November.
The towering Bolt eased up a full 40 metres from the line in his semi, to advance along with Canadian Andre De Grasse, setting a national record of 19.80sec as the second automatic qualifier.
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