Bolt, Blake meet one last time before London

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Bolt, Blake meet one last time before London

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Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake sauntered through their 200 metres semi-finals.

01 July,2012 09:28 am

Usain Bolt and YohanBlake sauntered through their 200 metres semi-finalsto set up another rematch and an explosive finish to theJamaican Olympic trials.The mens 200m on Sunday will provide the grand-finale tothe four-day meeting that could prove even more dramatic thantheir 100m showdown won by Blake, as the two fastest men everover the distance go head-to-head for a last time before London.Bolt, the Olympic champion and world record holder at 19.19seconds, will no doubt want to close out a lacklustre meeting ona positive note while Blake, with a best of 19.26, could confirmhimself as the man to beat in both events at the Games.Just 12 hours after Blake had clocked the fastest time ofthe year to claim a shock win over the world record holder inthe 100m, the training partners were back in their startingblocks and sleepwalking through preliminary heats in an emptystadium.However, both men showed considerably more zip in theevening semi-finals, Blake powering his way across the line in atime of 19.93 to easily win his heat while Bolt also looked morefocused, crossing first in 20.26.Blake was in no mood to discuss his effort but Bolt, who hasspent much of the trials desperately avoiding the media was morerelaxed and even eager to talk about his run.Its all about qualifying, Bolt told reporters. It was agood overall race.I felt good on the corner. I havent run a corner in awhile so it felt good. Im feeling all right, Im feeling alittle bit better.It has been a trying week for the worlds fastest man, whohas struggled out of the blocks and involved in two heats thatwere disrupted by false starts, including Saturdays 200m semi,which he shrugged off.The 200 is much more easy (for starts), Bolt added. Idont see anybody, so its much easier.I didnt want to get lane three in the final so I pacedmyself, Im happy and Im glad that Blake and (Warren) Weir ranfaster than me so, I think they will get the lower lanes.The womens 200m will also feature a juicy rematch betweenOlympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown and 100m Olympic goldmedalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.Campbell-Brown took her first step towards a record thirdconsecutive Olympic title by winning her heat in 22.79 butFraser-Pryce, winner of Fridays 100m in a Jamaican record10.70, continued to set a sizzling pace with the top qualifyingtime of 22.55.Im feeling pretty good, the objective was to come out heretonight and advance to the finals and Im happy to have achievedthat, Campbell-Brown said. So its time to get some sleep,some food and get ready for the finals tomorrow.We have a really good field and I think well get somedecent times out there but that is not my priority.Hansle Parchment closed out the evening session by bookinghis Olympic spot in the 110m hurdles with a winning time of13.18, edging Andrew Riley, the first man to win NCAA titles inthe 100m flat and 110m hurdles in the same year, with 13.19.