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Olympic Track and Field Results: Bolt cruises to the 100m semifinals

By Roje Smith

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 13: Usain Bolt (C) of Jamaica, Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago and James Dasaolu of Great Britain compete in the Men's 100m Round 1 on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 13, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 13: Usain Bolt (C) of Jamaica, Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago and James Dasaolu of Great Britain compete in the Men's 100m Round 1 on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 13, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) /
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Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin make an early statement by cruising into the men’s 100m dash semifinals

The men’s 100m preliminaries took place this morning for the 2016 Rio Olympics. They featured eight heats where the the top two finishers automatically qualify for the semifinals tomorrow. Additionally, the next eight fastest times would qualify for the semifinals that take place tomorrow night.

The top contenders don’t normally put forth their best effort in order to conserve energy for later races. However, based on some of the times that were recorded, clear messages are being sent about who the medal favorites should be.

Heat 1

The first heat featured a tie for first place between Kemarley Brown of Bahrain and Chijindu Ujah of Great Britain. Both sprinters ran a 10.13 and were followed by another semifinal qualifier in Marvin Bracy of the USA. Bracy, a University of Florida product, finished with a time of 10.16.

Heat 2

The second heat featured a potential contender to dethrone Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in Justin Gatlin of the USA. Gatlin easily won his heat with an impressive 100m time of 10.01 seconds. His start was very strong, and the race was basically over after that. Daniel Bailey of Antigua and Barbuda finished second by running a 10.20.

Heats 3-4

The third and fourth heats featured eight athletes that qualified for the semifinals. The most impressive performances came from Andre De Grasse of Canada and Zhenye Xie of China. De Grasse ran a 10.04 in the fourth heat, while Xie ran a 10.08 in the third heat. Other notable qualifiers from both heats were Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade (10.13) and Jimmy Vicaut of France (10.19).

Heats 5-6

The fifth and sixth heats featured two athletes that are also contenders for Bolt’s crown: Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and Trayvon Bromell of the USA. Surprisingly, Bromell finished second in the fifth heat behind Ben Youssef Meité of the Ivory Coast. Meité ran a 10.03 to surpass Bromell’s 10.13. Meanwhile, Blake won the sixth heat with a time of 10.11 to edge out Jak Ali Harvey of Turkey. Harvey would finish in 10.14 seconds.

Heat 7

The seventh heat featured the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder: Usain Bolt. Usain literally jogged his way to a 10.07 and spent more time looking around at the other sprinters. He gave us a small glimpse as to why he’s been so dominant for the past eight years. Two other athletes that qualified for the semifinals from this heat were Andrew Fisher of Bahrain (10.12) and James Dasaolu of Great Britain (10.18).

Heat 8

The final heat was the least impressive of the bunch. Akani Simbine of South Africa ran a 10.14 to win the heat. Ryoto Yamagata of Japan finished second with a time of 10.20 seconds. Neither athlete is expected to be a major contender moving forward.

The 100m semifinals will start tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. EST and feature three heats.

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