Yep. He was handed a gift with the slowest heat and blew it. If he blasts a 9.8x in the semis he might as well hand Bolt and Blake the medals.
I saw it differently, he did not seem to be pressing at all and the eventual gap was more on the guys around him than him trying to win by a big margin as he did coast through. Now the semis is where I think he will make or break his final. In Beijing he ran 9.83 in the heats though with more wind. I contend he would not have lost the final in China had he executed properly all the way through the race despite expending unnecessary much effort in earlier rounds.
One thing that bothers me is not to see guys coasting down but the guys who slow themselves up by applying the brakes/stopping their run-very stupid.
While he ran faster than necessary, again, at least he ‘cruised’ relative to the times he’s established this year and last. He dropped 9.83 then 9.80 at the US Trials so while the 9.83 was foolish, he did demonstrate that he has fantastic capacity/reserve by returning with the 9.80. The semi finals will be interesting as “cruising” will be difficult for anyone considering the field.
Ego is for sure alive and well in so many of these 100 meter runners.
I know no one cares particularly about this except me but I see a bigger and wider picture of these ‘winners’. I feel it’s smartest to lay low, stay calm, be humble before during and after and too much chest thumping and noise is never a good thing.
It’s hard to say who looked the best but Bolt for sure made it look incredibly effortless. For that reason he appears to be unbeatable. It will come down to the rounds and the pressure. Gatlin looked amazing as did DeGrasse. I’d of like him to stay away from the tv cameras more but he impresses me how relaxed he is. I hope he stays that way as he really is a big talent.
It was a bummer to see Brown not run well. I don’t know his age but it’s not too late for a guy like that but he seems a bit blind sided. He needs to do make his own way and get out and away from the ‘no one knows who I am’ syndrome. Maybe it’s not possible. Too bad for so much talent so I hope he finds a way to figure it out moving forward.
Blake looked really good too. It’s for sure going to be a race between Gatlin, De Grasse, Blolt and Blake.
How about that Chinese guy? He did not look the smoothest did he but wow he ran a PB of 10.08 from 10.12 to win his heat. Kick ass or what?
I was going to ask about Usain’s Hamstring issue but the idea of his not having this figured out is not believable in the least. Does anyone know much about his hamstring injury?
bromell is certainly a darkhorse to medal. bolt I’m afraid to say is supreme and gatlin needs to run the rounds very intelligently to get close to bolt. lets hope gatlin plays a smart game but bromell & bolt looked very very good.
I think Bromell played the prelims the smartest–get out to a good start and shut it down–and as the world indoor champion is perhaps the best positioned to take advantage of any weakness Bolt has in the first 50. He improved his 60 time by .07 this year and that’s pretty significant. It’s not clear if the achilles problem is over, but if it is and Bolt and Gatlin can’t go faster than the 9.79 and 9.80 they ran in the finals last year, I think Bromell’s going to take it.
Andre has yet to run as fast as he ran last year, and that includes the prelim.
Semi tomorrow has Bolt, Andre, and Bromell…and only 2 are guaranteed in.
I missed all the Men’s races…can’t wait to catch-up.
I too saw it like this, with Gatlin just cruising in and not pressing. I thought Gatlin was very good early and think just maybe ths s where he could get Bolt. From the heats I didn’t think Bolt looked that good until about 50-60 m.
Gatlin has no chance… It’s Bolt’s world…
did we watch different prelims, Bolt turned it on at 60 and looked across at the one guy like…do you know who you are fucking with?
Jam will go 1-2 tonight while gatlin gets 3rd…
I agree with that statement for sure.
Bromell will come up short tonight… Gonna be close…
well there we have it. bolt, gatlin and de grasse. a lot of hype but personally for me anyway an anti-climax. 9.81
Agreed! I am thrilled about the future for Mr. DeGrasse. But 9.81? Maybe Bolt needs to start training with Van Niekerk 
For me it shows most of them were running Bolts lead. Not necessarily DeGrasse because he does not have the background of the others to perform more than a PB than what he already did in a 2 year span.
What about Gatlin? He looked so good out of the blocks. Did he tighten up? I have not studied the tapes.
I’ve only watched the footage once or twice, but at around 50-70 when Bolt was passing, it did APPEAR that Gatlin tried to press for more.
So happy for De Grasse. To be in 7th through 60m and to finish 3rd takes a singular focus and concentration on the task at hand during one of the most razor thin moments in sports. Either that or youthful ignorance! Whatever got him through the middle part of that race, hopefully it serves him well long term. So fun to watch.
gatlin was disappointing. last year at the WC finals he really bet himself after 85m mark when he lost balance but in rio they knew bolt was the man. another man who was an upset was bromell…like WTF!
degrasse ran good ange and deserved a silver but mechanically he needs work.
It wasn’t close because Bromell has a lot more achilles problems than he was letting on. He did get out in front at the start, but he doesn’t have the MaxV injured. He will have to have surgery when he gets home. He’s saying one more race then surgery, but I take it he will be replaced on the 4X1.
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/olympics/article95736587.html
This is the kind of thing that can end a career. Let’s just pray that doesn’t happen before his career even gets started. I also hope that most of his contract is guaranteed or that he took out insurance.
Well for me bolt, just like shelly ann, both had a season with what 5-8 races? Despite injuries one gold one bronze.
I did expect bolt to run 9.7-.6 after what he did to drake in the semi…I mean andre. lol
THe race was excitinig for me cause gatlin and trayvon blasted out the blocks and were gone. bolt got into max v and it was game over!