AP photos
LEFT: Jamaica's Usain Bolt (centre) crosses the finish line ahead of Norway's Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (left) and Nigeria's Obinna Metu in their second round race of the men's 100-metre at the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, yesterday.
RIGHT: Jamaica's Asafa Powell (centre) leads Walter Dix of the United States as they compete in a men's 100-metre second round heat during the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, yesterday. At right is Vicente Lima of Brazil.
Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport
BEIJING, China:
Today is poised to be a historic one for Jamaica at the Beijing Olympics.
The world's two fastest men, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, are poised to decide the top two medals after impressive performances in the first two rounds of the100 metres inside the Beijing National Stadium.
A victory for either will give Jamaica its first ever 100 metres gold at the Olympics and the first medal, or medals, at these Games.
Bolt, the world record holder, has been the more impressive of the two and is the favourite to mine gold if he gets past the semi-finals which are set for 7:05 a.m. (Ja time) today.
Powell, however, appears to have got over a stomach cramp which dogged him in the opening round, early on the first morning of track and field at the Games and he will have to be caught.
Powell meets American Tyson Gay in a rematch of last year's World Championship final in semi-final two, after Bolt runs in the opening semi-final.
In the opening round Bolt (10.20 seconds) and Powell (10.16) won easily.
In the second round Bolt turned it up a notch, winning in 9.92 to lead all qualifiers into the semi-finals. Powell took his quarter-final heat in 10.02 while Jamaica's third competitor, Michael Frater, placed second in 10.09 to Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles.
Bolt and Powell went through the mixed zone looking confident and in good spirits often pointing at each other, but declining to speak to reporters.
FIRST FINALIST
Elsewhere, Jamaica had its first finalist when 2005 World Champion, Trecia Smith, reached tomorrow's triple jump medal round.
Smith, who has been dogged by injury for the past year, got up to 14.18 metres to take the 12th and final qualifying spot. The leading qualifier is Cuba's Yargelis Savigne with 14.99m.
All three Jamaican men - Markino Buckley, Danny McFarlane and Isa Phillips - qualified for the semi-finals of the 400 metres hurdles, while 800m runner Kenia Sinclair reached the semi-finals of her event.
Markino Buckley won his heat in a personal best 48.65 to enter the semi-finals with the fastest time. He was, of course, elated with his run.
"It feels great but I did not want to run that fast in the heats," Buckley said after his race. He added, however, that he is in condition to clock a personal best each time he runs.
"I think the track is a very fast one and as long as I get into the final, who knows."
McFarlane is attempting to at least repeat the silver he won in Athens four years ago, but he knows it will be difficult.
"When you are at the Olympics you will always get a strong field. History shows that the winning time is usually about 47.6 and I do not think this will be any different," McFarlane said. He was second in his heat in 48.48 behind winner, American Angelo Taylor, in 48.60.
Phillips had to fight hard to get an automatic qualifying place. He came to the last hurdle in fourth, but rallied to take third in 49.55. The fourth place finisher did not advance in the heat won in 49.42 by gold medal favourite, American Kerron Clement.
MISSED QUALIFYING
Shot putter Dorian Scott who came into the Games with high hopes of a good performance, just missed qualifying for the final of the event after finishing eighth, with a throw of 19.94 metres in qualification Group B.
Overall, Scott placed 15th after the qualification round. Only the top 12 advanced to the final, which was won by Poland's Tomazv Majewski with a personal best 21.51m.
Scott, who holds the national record at 21.45 metres, had three average rounds, failing to get up to 20m with any of his throws. His first attempt was 19.54, followed by 19.94 and 19.71 for this third and final.
Kenia Sinclair, 2:03.76, ran a controlled race as she advanced to today's 800m semi-finals from a heat won by world leader and gold medal favourite, Pamela Jelimo, of Kenya in 2:03.18.
The race, heat three of six, was the slowest by far, as Sinclair led the runners through 400m in a pedestrian 1:02.68. It was part of her race strategy.
"I did not want to get trapped in the back so I decided to go out front and try to control the pace. She (Jelimo) outsprinted me in the last 100m, but my goal was just to try to be in the top two and that is what I did."
Mardrea Hyman, who has been troubled by injury and Korine Hinds, both failed to finish in the 3000m steeplechase heats.
