Usain Bolt’s quest to become the youngest Olympic 200 metre champion ended today, marking the only major casualty of the opening round of the half-lap competition.
Running in heat four, the young Jamaican, who turned 18 just three days ago, made his first appearance on the track since blazing to a 19.93 World Junior record at the Carifta Junior Games in April. But he struggled from the outset, and by the time he reached the straight, he was clearly laboring.
In the end, his fifth place finish in a modest 21.05 was not enough to push him to this afternoon’s second round. Bolt had been fighting a recurring hamstring problem throughout the spring and summer, but was diagnosed as “100 percent okay” by doctors prior to the competition.
Besides the 2002 World Junior champion, there were no other surprises or notable non-qualifiers.
Heat one winner Stephane Buckland of Mauritius and American Bernard Williams, winner of heat six, were the fastest of the morning, winning their respective heats in 20.29. 100 metre silver medallist Francis Obikwelu was a comfortable runner-up to Buckland, clocking 20.40, just ahead of Juan Pedro Toledo of Mexico who was credited with the same time. It was a national record for the Mexican.
In heat two, World leader Shawn Crawford, whose 19.88 from the US trials leads the world, took a comfortable win in 20.55, 2/100s ahead of Jamaican Christopher Williams. 2002 European Indoor champion Marcin Urbas was third in 20.71, just ahead of defending silver medallist Darren Campbell of Great Britain, who stopped the clock at 20.72.
Frank Fredericks, still the second fastest to ever cover the distance, was the picture of relaxation during his 20.54 second trip to the finish line, finishing ahead of Malik Louahla’s 20.67, a mark just shy of his Algerian national record.
Marcin Jedruzkinski of Poland took heat three in 20.63, edging German Tobias Unger by 2/100s. Joseph Batangdon, silver medallist at the 2003 World Indoor Championships, was a distant third (20.92) and moves on as well.
Bahamian Dominic Demeritte and Briton Christian Malcolm crossed the line nearly simultaneously in heat five, each credited with a 20.62 clocking, but one of the loudest ovations of the morning round came for Panayiotis Sarris of Greece, who finished third in 20.67. Jamaican Asafa Powell, fifth in Sunday’s 100 final, was fourth here in 20.77.
The ovation continued in heat six as another Greek, Anastasios Gousis, ran to a personal best 20.44 to finish behind Bernard Williams’s 20.29. 19-year-old Italian Andrew Howe, the star of July’s IAAF World Junior Championships, was third in 20.55, just ahead of Slovenia’s Matic Osovnikar.
In the last heat, German Sebastian Ernst ran past Olympic 100 metre champion Justin Gatlin in the final three strides, clocking 20.47 to the American’s 20.51. Italy’s Marco Torrieri (20.68) and Claudio Roberto Souza of Brazil (20.71) and Brendan Christian (20.71) of Antigua, the 2002 World Junior silver medallist, advanced from the heat as well.
The first four finishers in each heat and the next four fastest advanced automatically to this evening’s second round.
BR
