Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin will face off in the World Championships 200m final on Thursday, after each sprinter won his semifinal in Beijing on Wednesday.
Bolt, the reigning two-time Olympic and three-time World champion, won his heat in 19.95 seconds, appearing to spend time during his race looking up at a stadium video screen and, briefly, across to the second-place finisher. That’s the first time the Jamaican has gone sub-20 in an Olympic or Worlds 200m semifinal and his first sub-20 since he won the 2013 World Championships in 19.66.
“A bit tired,” Bolt said on the BBC, repeating what he said after the first round Tuesday.