Usain Bolt once again demonstrated his dominance in the sprints as he stormed to an unprecedented third Olympic GOLD medal in the 200m, successfully retaining his titles from Beijing and London on Day 7 of Track and Field at the Rio Games.
The sprinting legend raced to a Season’s Best (SB) of 19.78s to establish a considerable lead, and was visibly disappointed when he glanced at the electronic timer as he crossed the line, wishing the race had been quicker.
Had Justin Gatlin made the final, perhaps the World Record (WR) holder would have been inspired to run a quicker time.
That notwithstanding, the 29-year old, who turns 30 in a few days, will be consoled by the fact that he has left an indelible mark in the world of Track and Field.
Meanwhile Canada’s Andre De Grasse crossed the finishing line in 2nd position with a time of 20.02s. The 21-year old has had an impressive show at the Rio Olympics, first winning Bronze in the 100m, and then capping it with Silver in the 200m.
De Grasse certainly belongs to next generation of sprinters to watch out for, even as the likes of Bolt, Gatlin, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay get set to exit the stage.
Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre was more than pleased with his Bronze medal, clocking a time of 20.12s. Great Britain’s Adam Gemili was heartbroken after realizing that he missed a podium finish, coming 4th in 20.12s as Churandy Martina placed 5th in 20.13s.
In a surprising turn of events World Leader LaShawn Merritt finished a distant 6th in a time of 20.19s. Perhaps the 30-year old is yet to fully recover from the historic men’s 400m final where he won a Bronze medal behind Wayde Van Niekerk who stormed to a World Record (WR) of 43.03s on Sunday, August 14.
Panama’s Alonso Edward was 7th in 20.23s and Ramil Guliyev of Turkey 8th after returning a time of 20.43s.
Bolt will be looking forward to completing the ‘triple’ when he and the Jamaican team take on the likes of the US in the men’s 4x100m relay final on Friday.
