Bolt on his way
USAIN Bolt started the defence of his 200m crown with an effortless victory, stopping the clock at 20.28 seconds to be the 13th fastest into the semi-finals.
But the man who was just crowned 100m champion said he was not perturbed by the marker laid down by his main rival Justin Gatlin or the other pretenders to his crown.
“Well, he (Gatlin) is always impressive through the rounds. It’s not a question of what he can do, he knows his ability. I am just watching as I always watch everyone in their races,” said Bolt as he hurried through the mixed zone.
Running from lane four in heat three, Bolt got out fairly quickly, then cruised around the bend and embarrassingly for his rivals, jogged home in 20.28 seconds the same time his local manager Nugent Walker said he hoped he would run.
“I felt good. I was OK. I was just trying to qualify and get through. I think I am going to take an ice bath again and I think tomorrow (today) should be good,” said Bolt, who admitted to feeling weary.
Gatlin, who seemed to have utilised more energy, won heat four in 20.19 seconds with Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade third in 20.41. Ashmeade was the last qualifier into the semis.
Both Julian Forte and Warren Weir qualified with some comfort. Forte, in his first major championships for Jamaica, got out well in heat five, led off the curve, held his form well and relaxed home near the finish and was passed by the onrushing Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain, in lane one. Hughes, a past student of Kingston College who runs for Great Britain won in 20.13 seconds to be the third fastest while Forte clocked 20.16
seconds and was fifth quickest into the semis.
Warren Weir, the 2013 bronze medallist from Moscow, also safely navigated his way into the semi-finals running out of lane eight in heat six. He finished second in 20.24 seconds after easing off in the last 20 metres. His time was the 11th fastest.
In the lane assignment released later for today’s (Wednesday) semi-finals, Bolt was placed in semi-final three in lane seven alongside promising South African Anaso Jobodwana who did 20.22 seconds but has a personal best of 20, 04 seconds and Ramil Guliyev of Turkey who enters the semis with the fastest time of 20.01 seconds.
Forte is in semi-final two alongside Gatlin, Alonso Edwards of Panama and World Junior champion Abdul Hakim Sani Brown of Japan. Weir and Ashmeade run in a tough semi-final one with Churanda Martini of the Netherlands, Hughes and Christophe Lemaitre of France.