Bolt, Gatlin advance in 200; Rudisha soars
Print Edition
USAIN Bolt was back on familiar territory yesterday, running his favorite event and showing off why he is the greatest 200-meter runner of all time.
After the intense pressure that accompanied his come-from-behind win over Justin Gatlin in the 100 on Sunday at the world championships in Beijing, Bolt was all smiles as he coasted into the semifinals of the 200. Gone was any worry about injuries, about his rival, or about stutter-steps that marred his 100 semifinal heat.
“It means a lot more to me,” Bolt said of the 200, the event in which he is a three-time defending champion and two-time Olympic gold-medalist.
Bolt crossed in 20.28 seconds, tied for 13th overall. In the heat after him, Gatlin powered to a time of 20.19. Gatlin also outran Bolt in the 100 heats.
“I’m a little worried about my fitness,” said Bolt, now 29 years old. “I’m tired and my legs are still sore, but I’m going to have another bath tonight and hopefully tomorrow, I’ll be there.”
Like Bolt, David Rudisha has been struggling with injuries for two years but still came up golden in Beijing.
The Kenyan won the 800 meters at the London Olympics in a world-record time and had not been back to his best since. At the Bird’s Nest, Rudisha rekindled that Olympic spirit, again front-running from the start to hold off Adam Kszczot after the Pole attempted to pass 250 meters from the end. Rudisha finished in a slow 1 minute, 45.84 seconds, almost five seconds off his world record.
Nicholas Bett made it a super night for Kenya with victory in the 400-meter hurdles, winning in 47.79 seconds.
In the medal standings, Kenya leads with four gold medals and nine overall, with the United States back in sixth place with one gold and six overall.
Second is Britain, and like Rudisha, it was a 2012 Olympic champion who shone when Greg Rutherford won his first world title in the long jump with a season-best leap of 8.41 meters. Australian Fabrice Lapierre took silver with 8.24 as home favorite Wang Jianan claimed bronze after leaping 8.18.
Elsewhere, Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia won the women’s 1,500 meters and Cuba’s Denia Caballero took the women’s discus gold medal.
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