Jamaica's Usain Bolt shouts as he prepares for his leg of a men's 4x100-meter relay first round heat during the World Athletics Championships in London Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. (AP
Photo/Matt Dunham)
LONDON (AP) — Usain
Bolt set the stage for his grand farewell, powering down the finishing straight
Saturday to qualify Jamaica for the 4x100-meter relay final at the world
championships.
Fittingly, he will
face Justin Gatlin and the United States in the final chapter of his
unparalleled career.
Both nations won their
heats early Saturday, though the U.S. relay squad got the baton around with
more aplomb than Jamaica, which had to rely on Bolt to clinch victory.
And Bolt relished the
adulation at the 60,000-capacity Olympic Stadium.
"They've been
outstanding so far, and continue to surprise me and give me energy," Bolt
said.
For the best part of
the past decade, though, Bolt has been 100 percent reliable in getting relay
gold for the island nation. The last time Jamaica lost a world championship
final was in Bolt's rookie year in 2007, when he ran the second leg and only
took silver behind the Americans.
Ever since, Bolt has
flaunted his power at the end of every major championship, getting the third
gold medal for himself and sometimes another world record for Jamaica.
This year, however, he
only got bronze in the 100 behind Gatlin. And the result in the relay is no
longer a foregone conclusion.
The United States,
with Gatlin running the second leg, won the first heat in a world leading time
of 37.70 seconds. The Americans beat Britain and Japan, both of which also
qualified.
"My team did a
great job," said Gatlin, the oldest of the squad at 35. "They're
thinking and acting like veterans and I'm proud of them."
Christian Coleman took
silver in the 100 ahead of Bolt and it gave the U.S. team an added boost.
"Having the gold
and silver medal on the same relay team, which hasn't been done in a long time,
it gives us kind of a confidence booster that the speed can get around the
track," Gatlin said.
Bolt stepped out on
the track for the second heat, and the Jamaicans needed him. Trailing when he
got the baton on the anchor leg, Bolt powered away, quickly swept past his
rivals and had time to look to his right before crossing in 37.95 seconds.
Still, Bolt was
supportive of his young teammates.
"They came out
here and did the job we wanted them to do, and that's to get us to the finals.
They executed and ran well for a young team," Bolt said. "Over the
years, this will be the team bringing in the golds."
In the women's heats,
both nations are also through.
Allyson Felix stayed
in line to become the athlete with the most medals in world championships
history when she helped the American relay team qualify.
Running the second
leg, Felix and her teammates crossed first in a season's leading time of 41.84
seconds, beating Britain and Switzerland. They also advanced to the final.
In the second heat,
Germany beat two-time defending champion Jamaica to qualify along with Brazil.
The Netherlands, with
200-meter champion Dafne Schippers running the second leg, qualified on time.
Felix has won 14
medals at the world championships and can move up to 16 if she runs the 4x400
relay and the United States wins medals in both events.
In the decathlon,
two-time world champion Trey Hardee of the United States hit the third hurdle
and clattered into the next one during the 110-meter hurdles to end his medal
chances.
In the first of five
events on the final day of the two-day competition, Kevin Mayer of France set a
third personal record to easily stay atop the standings with 5,485 points. Rico
Freimuth of Germany was in second place with 5,377 points, while Damian Warner
of Canada had the fastest time in the hurdles of 13.63 seconds to move into
third.
Also, British runner Mo Farah will compete in
his last race on the track at a major championship when he goes for a fourth
straight world title in the 5,000. He won a third 10,000-meter gold on the
first day of the championships.
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