zondag 1 juli 2012

Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake set for second showdown in Olympic trials

Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake are set for another showdown in the Jamaican Olympic trials after both advanced to Sunday's 200m final.

Blake caused an upset in Kingston on Friday night by beating Bolt in the 100m final with a time of 9.75 seconds - the fastest in the world this year.

And Blake, 22, again went quicker in Saturday's 200m semi-finals, running 19.93 while Bolt won his heat in 20.26.

"It's all about qualifying," claimed Bolt. "It was a good overall race."

Bolt and Blake are the two fastest men ever over 200m and Sunday's final will see them go head-to-head for the last time before this summer's Games in London.

Bolt, 25, is the world record holder at 19.19 and won Olympic gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at Beijing in 2008.

The 100m final was the first time the training partners had faced each other since Blake took the world title in Daegu last year, after Bolt was disqualified for a false start.

Bolt has struggled out of the blocks this weekend and his 200m semi was disrupted by a false start, but he is determined to head for London on a positive note.

"I felt good on the corner," he said. "I haven't run a corner in a while so it felt good. I'm feeling all right, I'm feeling a little bit better.

"The 200 is much more easy (for starts). I don't see anybody, so it's much easier.

"I didn't want to get lane three in the final so I paced myself, I'm happy and I'm glad that Blake and (Warren) Weir ran faster than me so, I think they will get the lower lanes."

The women's 200m final will also feature a rematch between Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Campbell-Brown, who is hoping for a record third consecutive Olympic title, won her heat in 22.79, but Fraser-Pryce, winner of Friday's 100m and the 100m Olympic champion, ran the top qualifying time of 22.55.

The men's final is the last event of the four-day meeting and is scheduled for 19.30 local time (01.30 BST), with the women's at 19.15 (01.15 BST).


Watch the 100m in Kingston here

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