Olympic Track and Field 2016: Complete Preview for Men's 200-Meter Dash
The 100-meter dash may grab the most attention at the Olympics, but the 200-meter dash is by far the most compelling track and field race.
Why?
It's the perfect hybrid of whiplash speed and endurance. At 20 seconds in duration, there's more to watch, more that can unfold, more breath holding (for the viewer) and more heartbeats (for everyone).
We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Usain Bolt, the two-time defending gold medalist in this event, takes his title belt onto the track for one more sub-20-second scamper on an Olympic oval. He already secured gold in the 100-meter dash, a race that lived up to the hype.
But in the 200 meters, you get Justin Gatlin trying, trying, trying to beat his rival in Bolt. You'll see LaShawn Merritt, a 400-meter specialist, turning back 200 meters. You'll also see Jamaica's Yohan Blake—the second-fastest 200-meter runner ever—and Miguel Francis, Anaso Jobodwana and Andre De Grasse taking aim at the king.
Strap in, folks, these guys will create a lot of turbulence.
Schedule, TV and Live Stream Info
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Catch all the Round 1 heats on the NBC Olympics live stream. Watch the semifinals and finals on NBC, all times ET.
Round 1, Tuesday, Aug. 16
Heat 1: 10:50 a.m.
Heat 2: 10:57 a.m.
Heat 3: 11:04 a.m.
Heat 4: 11:11 a.m.
Heat 5: 11:18 a.m.
Heat 6: 11:25 a.m.
Heat 7: 11:32 a.m.
Heat 8: 11:39 a.m.
Heat 9: 11:46 a.m.
Heat 10: 11:53 a.m.
Semifinals, Wednesday Aug. 17
Semi 1: 9 p.m.
Semi 2: 9:08 p.m.
Semi 3: 9:16 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 18
Final: 9:30 p.m.
Top Storylines
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Usain Bolt Keeps Gunning for Triple-Triple
In case you were living under the world's largest rock or moved off the grid (good on ya), Bolt won the 100-meter dash in style by using the first 40 meters to find his stride and the final 60 to categorically dismantle the psyches of those around him.
"All I had to do was stay cool and get back into it at 60 meters," Bolt told NBC after the race (h/t NPR.org).
Ato Boldon, NBC's track analyst, said throughout the NBC broadcast that Bolt's greatest strength isn't his speed late the race, but his ability to maintain his speed while others atrophy. Which is what makes him especially scary in a race like the 200 meters where he has that much more real estate to engage and extend that stride from a 6'5" frame.
A third straight gold medal in this event will give him eight golds and a perfect 1.000 batting average. It'll set the stage for the 4x100-meter relay, where he'll go for the all-time track and field medal count with nine, this while only doing three events per Olympics.
Revenge of the Americans
In 1973, a racehorse named Sham finished second to Secretariat in every leg of the Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
Sham had misfortune bestowed upon him: He was born in the same foaling year as Secretariat. In any other year, Sham may have won the Triple Crown.
Though Gatlin isn't the same age as Bolt, he has the misfortune of being of the same generation of the greatest sprinter the world has ever known. For all of Gatlin's ability, when it came down to Bolt, Gatlin was always a step too slow at the tape.
"He gave me a vision of where I needed to be," Gatlin said, per Seth Rubinroit of NBC Olympics.
The Gatlin-Bolt rivalry reigns as the greatest storyline of the entire meet, but the U.S.'s 400-meter specialist deserves some ink too.
Merritt took the bronze medal in the 400 meters Sunday night and turns back to the 200. Merritt recorded the fastest 200-meter time of 2016 at 19.74 in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic trials.
Running back to that time should put him on the podium. Then again, this could be a blanket finish where anything goes. It's been seven years since Bolt ran his world-record 19.19. His fastest time of 2016 is only 19.89, so while Bolt is the favorite, he appears vulnerable, which beats the typical invincibility associated with his name.
Beware the Other Jamaican
Several Jamaicans will run in this event, but none are as accomplished as Blake, someone who has lived in Bolt's shadow for the past several years. Blake owns the second fastest 200-meter sprint in history (19.26). Again we see a case of someone being unlucky to be born around the same time as Bolt.
Blake is four years younger than Bolt, so it appears he may have some time in the spotlight to himself in the next half-decade or so.
A hamstring tear sidelined him in 2013, but after finishing fourth in the 100-meter dash Sunday night, Blake will be out to reach the podium again with the hope of sweeping the 200 meters for Jamaica for a second straight Olympics.
"I believe if I'm sleeping, there is this next guy is working harder than me," he said in Mirren Gidda's Newsweek.com story. "I can't have him doing that."
Athletes to Watch
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Usain Bolt, Jamaica
The fastest biped on the planet goes for his eighth gold medal in as many tries. NBC has all but assigned a flock of cameramen to follow Bolt's every stride.
Justin Gatlin, United States
The best rivalry in track and field since Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson is Gatlin v. Bolt.
Gatlin will try to supplant Bolt, but as is always the case, it's an uphill climb.
Andre De Grasse, Canada
De Grasse won the bronze medal in the 100-meter dash, the first Canadian to medal in the 100 meters at the Olympics since Donovan Bailey in 1996.
Now he'll tackle the 200 meters and try to get up onto that Jamaican-dominated podium.
De Grasse ran his first competitive race only four years ago, so the best is yet to come for this Canadian. He won the gold in the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto with a time of 19.88. That may be a few steps too slow to win gold in Rio, but he's in the discussion.
He reached one podium already, and it wouldn't be out of the question for him to earn a medal in the 200.
Anaso Jobodwana, South Africa
You're going to want to know which lane Anaso Jobodwana is in.
He took the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championship in Beijing behind Bolt and Gatlin, so that should tell you something.
Jobodwana hasn't been in competition for months due to a pelvic injury, but he appears to be heading in right direction and will be a threat to medal Wednesday night.
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Who Are the Sleepers?
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Anaso Jobodwana, South Africa
We got a primer about Jobodwana on the previous slide, but he bears repeating as sleeper in this event.
He won that bronze medal at the 2015 worlds and, at just 24 years old, should be coming into his prime.
"There's no pressure, which is something I like," he said, per Wesley Botton of the Citizen. "Not knowing where I was going to be three months ago, I had already sort of put myself out of the Olympics."
Jobodwana clocked a time of 19.87 at worlds, smashing countryman Wayde van Niekerk's (now the world-record holder in the 400 meters) 200-meter mark by .07 seconds.
Should the favorites of this race back up a few hundredths of a second, that will put Jobodwana in a medaling spot.
Miguel Francis, Antigua and Barbuda
Miguel Francis trains with Bolt, but will Francis be able to run?
Francis has been nursing a hamstring strain, which is too bad because he is a sleeper to medal. Everton Cornelius, president of the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association, via Neto Baptiste of the Antigua Observer:
"From my layman end of it, I would say that his recovery is coming on pretty good but I am waiting for the doctor and the physio to give me an update on that. We will also be concerned about any injury our athletes pick up at a game like this. It is a game of a very high level, it is a stressful game and something that we have to monitor and monitor closely whether it is just a slight complaint or a serious injury.
"
The injury will affect the 4x100-meter relay team too, so Francis' hamstring is a national concern at the moment.
The 19.88 Francis ran this year is the fourth-fastest time of the season, so if he's healthy, he'll contend in Rio.
LaShawn Merritt, United States
You can't ignore that Merritt clocked the year's fastest time in the 200 meters during the semifinal of the U.S. trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Now he turns back the distance 200 meters in attempt to win a second medal at these games. Several runners will get the jump on him, but if he can summon that wicked kick down the lane, he could be a factor in the final 50 meters.
"I train 24 hours a day," he told People ahead of the games. "Training isn't just physical out on the track. I'm on the track maybe two hours, I'm in the gym maybe an hour and a half, but mentally, I'm always locked in. It's all day."
Perhaps what hurt Merritt's chances in the 400—an event trumped by the fleet-footed Van Niekerk—was not keeping pace early enough in the race. Nobody saw Van Niekerk exploding out of the blocks and sustaining that pace the way he did.
It took Merritt out of his game, and he was visibly fatigued in the final 100 meters. How will Merritt approach the 200? If he runs like he did at the 2016 Bahamas Invitational, where he blew out of the blocks and created massive separation in the final 100 meters, then he can make countryman Gatlin sweat a bit as he (Merritt) comes up to meet him (Gatlin).
Maybe Bolt too.
Medal Predictions
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The fact remains is that in these headliner events, there's nobody better than Bolt. Look no further than Sunday night's 100-meter final. Bolt welcomed the adulation; he thrived on it. He was several steps slower than his rivals through the first 40 meters, but he kept his poise and surged past them in the end.
Now he has an extra 100 meters to create that world-class separation. Bolt will have Gatlin, Merritt, even Jobodwana and Blake on his heels, but it's the way Bolt maintains his speed, taking fewer strides than the rest of the field, that allows him to stay the course while others lose altitude.
He won't come close to that 19.19 from seven years ago, but that won't matter.
As NBC Olympics' Joe Posnanski writes, "But, if you put him in front of a crowd and tell him a gold medal is on the line, Bolt will fly."
To another gold, eight-of-eight, with one more to go in the 4x100-meter relay.
Gold: Usain Bolt, Jamaica
Silver: LaShawn Merritt, United States
Bronze: Andre De Grasse, Canada
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