Usain Bolt took the first “sluggish” steps towards his hoped-for Olympic triple-triple yesterday when he eased through his 100 metres heat as the fans turned out in force to see the sport’s superstar bring the athletics programme to life.
After Friday’s feeble turnout on a grey, wet morning, there were enough in the 60,000-capacity stadium to attempt a somewhat ragged Mexican wave in the Saturday sunshine, although there was no shortage of excitement to keep them occupied.
Much of it came from the unlikely source of the men’s discus, where German Christoph Harting snatched victory with his last throw, four years after his brother Robert took the title in London.
Bolt was the headline act, however, even if his progress was a foregone conclusion.
Big-screen glimpses of him on the warm-up track brought roars of appreciation from the crowd and when he entered the arena and clapped the fans they responded with a roar of appreciation.
Bolt looked a little tight warming up and he was slow out of the blocks, as he often is. Into his running, though, he eased through to win the seventh of eight heats in 10.07 seconds.
One of his rivals is American Justin Gatlin, likely to be Bolt’s main challenger in tonight’s final was the fastest qualifier in 10.01 seconds.
Bezzina, Wingfield out
Luke Bezzina and Charlotte Wingfield bowed out of the 100 metres competition after failing to progress to the next round.
Bezzina placed third in his preliminary heat, yesterday, crossing the finish line in 11.04 seconds. His time was 0.37 seconds slower than his personal best of 10.67 he set at Marsa earlier this year and 0.55 off Kevin Moore’s national record – 10.49.
Hassan Saaid, of the Maldives, won the race in 10.43 seconds.
In the overall classification, Bez-zina placed 12th from 21 athletes.
Wingfield found the going tough in her first round heat, held in the early hours of yesterday, when she finished eighth in 11.90 seconds… 0.21 of a second slower than her own national mark she set last year.
Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye won the race in 11.00.
Bezzina and Wingfield’s elimination brought to an end Malta’s participation at the Rio Olympics.