Usain Bolt in the 200m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Two of the biggest names in sprinting were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition at the semi-final stage of the men’s 200m, but Usain Bolt marched serenely on as his quest for a hat-trick of Olympic 200m titles came a step closer.
LaShawn Merritt, the Olympic 400m bronze medallist, revealed his potential to claim a second individual medal by powering to victory in the first semi-final in a time of 19.94.
Around the bend, the experienced Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade was prominent early as were Great Britain’s Danny Talbot and Christophe Lemaitre in lanes seven and eight. However, entering to home straight, Merritt established control to and cruised to a decisive win.
France's 2010 European champion Christophe Lemaitre finished with a strong late surge to take the second automatic spot in 20.01, his quickest time for four years.
Talbot trimmed 0.02 from his best to run 20.25 for third with Ashmeade fourth in 20.31.
Usain Bolt took the second semi-final in a season’s best of 19.78, but in some ways the story here was the fact Andre de Grasse trimmed 0.08 from his Canadian record when finishing second in 19.80.
However, fans of the two-time Olympic champion in both sprints and the 4x100m relay need not be too alarmed by the close nature of the final result, Bolt clearly has plenty more to give and spent the final 30 metres glancing across and grinning cheekily at the Canadian pretender to his crown.
To be fair, De Grasse replicated Bolt’s actions, and he is clearly hungry for more precious metal after winning the Olympic 100m bronze medal earlier in the week.
Great Britain’s Adam Gemili, who was on Bolt’s shoulder entering the home straight but lost significant ground to the two automatic qualifiers in the second half of the race, still had enough to hold on to third from Ramil Guliyev of Turkey, the 2014 European champion clocking 20.08 and edging Guliyev by 0.01.
The major drama was reserved for the third and last semi-final as world silver medallist Justin Gatlin and Olympic silver medallist Yohan Blake were both eliminated.
Entering the home stretch, both Gatlin and Blake held a marginal advantage but Alonso Edward of Panama and Spanish record-holder Bruno Hortelano were also prominent.
The first big name to crack was Blake, who appeared to abruptly decelerate midway down the home stretch. In the latter stages, it was Edward who moved to the front with European 100m champion Churandy Martina of the Netherlands closing quickly with a late gallop for the line.
Edward, the 2009 world silver medallist, was given the verdict in a time of 20.07 with Martina edging the fading Gatlin by 0.03 to snatch the second automatic qualifying spot in 20.10.
Hortelano again ran with distinction to take fourth in 20.16, just 0.04 away from the national record he set in the first round. Blake wound up a distant sixth in 20.37.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
