Usain Bolt strolls to victory in 200m heats

The 29-year-old shut down with 50 metres left in the race, preferring to peer over to his right a couple of times at Nigerian Ejowvokoghene Oduduru, who was second in 20.34.

Bolt now has the motivation to win more gold in Rio as he is going to compete in the first round of the 200 meter dash on Tuesday, Aug. 16th and work his way to the final race on Thursday, Aug. 18th.

Right now, the only person to come close to Bolt’s 2009 record of 19.19 seconds is Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, who ran a 19.26 in 2011, but Blake hasn’t broken 20 seconds since 2013. “I don’t know why they changed the time, but if we got more time, the race would definitely have been faster”.

“Guys, I have the utmost respect for Usain”, said Gatlin. “His pose, his stride and ideal technique, and then the big grin and the fact that he’s looking where I was standing, made that image all come together”, the Getty photographer Cameron Spencer said to Sydney Morning Herald.

Bolt enjoyed overwhelming support from the capacity crowd while his long-time rival Gatlin was roundly jeered.

“When I crossed the line I looked up at the screen because I had tunnel vision and I didn’t even know where I was placed at so to see that I was second, I was honoured with that”.

Bolt has all the sprinting world record to his name including the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. But the Jamaican legend roared back to form last month by winning the 200m at the Anniversary Games in London.

“He’s going to be good”, said Bolt following the race.

A match-up between the two over 400m will not happen. “The 200 meters will be the sweetest one”, he told reporters. But he is keen on a showdown over 300m, possibly next year.

“It’s just an incredible feeling”, said Whitlock, who had already got an all-around bronze medal on Wednesday. Few, if any, would bet against him.