Bolt leads Gatlin, Jamaican trio to 100m final

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt remained on course to regain his 100 metres world title as he progressed into the final at the World Athletics Championships.

Bolt, the 26-year-old world record holder, shadowed the diminutive American Mike Rodgers for most of his semi-final heat, the third of three. Eyes pinned on the big scraeen, Bolt was in complete control of the race and edged Rodgers at the line by one-hundredth of a second in 9.92sec.

‘I’m happy with how my legs felt. The reaction was okay, the first 10 metres were okay. The plan for the final is just to execute. World record? I don’t know, we’ll see,’ said Bolt.

The six-time Olympic gold medallist, who also has five world gold medals, has three Jamaican teammates in the final for company: Nesta Carter, Nickel Ashmeade and Kemar Bailey-Cole. They will be joined by Rodgers and his US teammate Justin Gatlin.

The fastest losers going through to the eight-man final were Briton James Dasaolu and Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre. Gatlin, 2004 Olympic champion and double world sprint champion in 2005 but who then served a four-year doping ban, had the running of his heat after a false start by China’s Su Bingtian, coming home easily in 9.94sec, with Carter taking second in 9.97.