Chen walks to silver as Bolt eases into 100 final
Print Edition
Aleksandr Ivanov gave host Russia its first gold at the world championships yesterday, winning the men’s 20-kilometer walk after benefiting from the late disqualification of his closest pursuer.
Ivanov finished the race that started and ended in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium in 1 hour, 20 minutes, 58 seconds, more than 10 seconds ahead of Olympic gold medalist Chen Ding of China. Miguel Angel Lopez of Spain took bronze.
Near the 18-kilometer mark, Erick Barrondo of Guatemala edged ahead of Ivanov, not knowing that he had just received his third yellow card and would be disqualified before he could widen the gap.
That left the 20-year-old Ivanov well in front of the others to become the youngest winner of a race walk competition at the world championships.
Most of the race was run on a loop outside the stadium that offered little shade or relief from the late-afternoon heat of 29 degrees Celsius.
The lead changed hands repeatedly, with Takumi Saito of Japan far ahead until the 24th minute, when teammate Yusuke Suzuki overtook him. But Suzuki soon fell to a pursuing pack of Ivanov, Chen, Barrondo and Olympic bronze winner Wang Zhen of China, who was disqualified at the 13km mark with a third yellow card.
Elsewhere, Usain Bolt was back in the 100-meter final. If he avoids a false start later, the Jamaican will be the favorite to reclaim the title he lost in a disqualification two years ago.
Bolt was slow out of the blocks and had to work to chase down Mike Rodgers before winning his semifinal heat in 9.92 seconds.
“I got it done, so that’s the good thing,” Bolt said.
The reigning Olympic champion will have to deal with 2004 Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin, the only racer to have beaten him this season. The American won his heat in 9.95.
With a time of 9.90 seconds, Nickel Ashmeade led a Jamaican 1-2-3 in qualifying followed by the two Americans, setting up a thrilling opener of the United States-Jamaican sprint rivalry at major events.
All eyes will be on Bolt, though. In the only major flaw of his sterling career, he let the gold slip out of his grasp in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011 when a rare false start cost him a second consecutive triple at the world championships.
He made up for that in London last year and is favored to win another string of 100, 200, 4x100 titles in Moscow.
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