E-Paper
‘Lazy’ Bolt surprised by De Grasse in 200m semi-finals
RIO DE JANEIRO: Usain Bolt admitted to being surprised by Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse’s final burst of speed in Wednesday’s Olympic 200 metres semi-final.
RIO DE JANEIRO: Usain Bolt admitted to being surprised by Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse’s final burst of speed in Wednesday’s Olympic 200 metres semi-final.
The Jamaican seven-times gold medallist exchanged friendly smiles with first-time Olympian De Grasse as they charged towards the line to finish the heat in 19.78 and 19.8 seconds respectively.
“He was supposed to slow down. I said ‘What are you doing, it’s a semi-final?’ But I think he wanted to push me. I was a bit lazy but I got round,” said Bolt, who is aiming to win his third triple batch of Olympic gold medals in Rio.
“I saw that he got a national record actually, so he means business,” said the Jamaican, who turns 30 on Sunday, the final day of what he has said will be his last Olympics.
It would be the first time in history a runner has collected the “triple-triple”, a goal so audacious that no athlete even attempted it before Bolt, who won the 100m on Sunday and told reporters he might be able to beat his world record time of 19.19 seconds in the 200m final on Thursday.
One of Bolt’s main rivals, American Justin Gatl in, who took silver in the 100m, will not be in the race on Thursday. The 34- year- old was being eliminated by a third-place 20.13 in his heat. “I wasn’t truly surprised, I thought he actually made it but I could tell from the 100m he was slowing down,” Bolt said.
FARAH SURVIVES
Mo Farah survived another stumble to battle through to the final of the 5,000 metres on Wednesday as the Briton remained on course for a prized Olympic distance ‘double-double’.
Farah recovered from a fall to win the 10,000 gold last weekend and almost went down again on the last lap of his heat in the shorter race after being clipped by American Hassan Mead, who did fall and missed out on qualification.
An initial appeal by the Americans was rejected but a second plea, offering new video evidence, was accepted and Mead was installed in the field for Saturday’s final.
THOMPSON’S DOUBLE
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson overcame a niggling hamstring injury to obliterate her rivals in the women’s 200 metres final and become the first women since 1988 to secure the Olympics sprint double. Thompson’s dominant victory emulated American Florence Griffith Joyner, the last woman to win both 100 and 200 gold medals.
Racing with a sparkly headband, Thomson made a brilliant start that helped her surge ahead of the field and after the bend she never looked like relinquishing her lead to win in 21.78 seconds.
CHINESE SWEEP
China completed their sweep of the table tennis gold medals after their men’s team defeated Japan 3-1 in the final.
With the win, the Asian powerhouse has now won 28 out of 32 golds awarded since table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988.
The experience and skills of the Chinese team, who included Olympic individual champion Ma Long, singles silver medallist Zhang Jike and world No 3 Xu Xin, proved too hard to crack for Japan.
