A tired Usain Bolt and an emotionally fatigued Justin Gatlin progressed toward their second blockbuster sprint showdown of the world championships by easing through the 200m heats yesterday.
Bolt, who beat Gatlin to retain his 100m title at the Bird’s Nest on Sunday, shot out of the blocks and led for the entire race before easing up over the final 15m to cross the line in 20.28 seconds.
The 29-year-old Jamaican said he was still feeling the effects of the 100m, but will be looking to raise the pace in today’s semi-finals before peaking for tomorrow’s final, where he could win a fourth successive 200m gold.
Photo: EPA
“Tired, tired, tired,” the Olympic champion and world record holder told reporters. “This means a lot more to me. I’m a little worried about my fitness and I need to work a lot over 200m, but I’m a better technical runner over the 200m, so we’ll see what happens. I’m tired and my legs are still sore, but I’m going to have another bath tonight and, hopefully, tomorrow I’ll be there.”
Gatlin, unbeaten in the 200m since 2013 and the 2005 world champion at the distance before his second doping ban, was even more dominant in the following heat, maintaining his form through the line to win in 20.19.
The 33-year-old American, who owns the fastest time of the year (19.57), said he would have eased up, but for the presence behind him of Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who finished second in 20.35.
Photo: Reuters
“The 100m final was a difficult one for me, also emotionally, but now I’m going for 200m. I have two days to go. My race would have been slower, but Sani pushed me so much. This young guy from Japan is phenomenal,” Gatlin said.
In other events yesterday, Olympic champion and world-record holder David Rudisha ran from the front and trusted his finishing pace to regain the world 800m title.
Still not back at his best after the knee injury that cost him his chance to defend the world title in 2013, the Kenyan kicked for home at the end of the back straight and crossed the line in one minute 45.84 seconds to win gold.
In the absence of defending champion Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia and London Olympic silver medalist Nijel Amos, who both failed to reach the final, Pole Adam Kszczot finished strongly to win silver in 1.46.08.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Amel Tuka finished third in 1.46.30 to win a first world championship medal for his country.
Ethiopian favorite Genzebe Dibaba stormed to the women’s world 1,500m title as she stamped her authority with a sumptuous display of controlled running.
The world record-holder strolled through a pedestrian first lap before taking the front, tracked by Kenyan Faith Kipyegon and Dawit Seyaum, also of Ethiopia.
However, a second kick 200m from the line saw Dibaba stretch away to win in 4 minutes, 08.09 seconds, Kipyegon taking silver in 4:09.96 and fast-finishing Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan third in 4:09.34.
Dibaba last month ran 3:50.07 to shatter the world 1,500m record set in 1993 by China’s Yunxia Qu, who competed under the guidance of controversial coach Ma Junren.
She also holds the world records for the indoor 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000m events, continuing a family tradition that includes elder sister Tirunesh holding the world record in the outdoor 5,000m.
Cuba’s Denia Caballero landed a shock win in the discus yesterday, her first round effort of 69.28m beating all her rivals including defending champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia.
Olympic champion Perkovic salvaged the silver medal with a late effort of 67.39, having gone into the final round facing the prospect of going home empty-handed after a mediocre series of throws that contained three fouls.
The bronze went to Germany’s Nadine Mueller, with her best of 65.53 also coming in the first round.
Caballero is small by discus standards, at 1.75m, and she was dwarfed by her fellow medal winners as they lined-up for the mandatory post-event photographs.
Meanwhile, Nicholas Bett handed Kenya a first-ever medal in the men’s 400m hurdles when he held his nerve for gold.
Bett clocked a world-leading time of 47.79 seconds, with Russian Denis Kudryavtsev taking silver in a national record of 48.05 seconds.
Jeffrey Gibson of the Bahamas claimed bronze in 48.17, also a national record.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to