Bolt, Gay cruise into semifinals of 100 meters at world championships

Bolt, Gay cruise into semifinals of 100

BERLIN — Smiling and joking, Usain Bolt cruised into the semifinals of the 100 meters of the world championships.

Sprinting in earnest to test his groin, Tyson Gay did the same, setting up the prospect of a showdown in Sunday’s final.

Bolt, the three-time Olympic champion from Jamaica, and Gay, the three-time world champion from the United States, proved they are in shape for the most anticipated race of the year.

Gay won his quarterfinal in 9.98 seconds, and Bolt cruised in at 10.03, finishing second in his heat.

After Asafa Powell flirted with elimination in the opening heat, he was all focus in the evening, clocking the fastest qualifying time of the quarterfinals with a run of 9.95, proving the pace of both the track at the Olympic Stadium and the quality of competition.

Just showing up, Bolt was the star of the day, bobbing and weaving his head, playing it up for the camera, and pointing to an adoring crowd. The most fun came during race.

He eased up at the halfway mark to see his training partner Daniel Bailey beside him and happily let him take the honor of winning in 10.02.

Gay had a slow start and needed to kick harder.

“My groin is pretty sore,” he said.

Still, the American didn’t think it would affect his speed Sunday. After limiting training over the past week, he was moving as well as ever.

“I haven’t even worked on my starts yet,” Gay said. “So to run that fast felt good.”

Once he got going, his stride showed why the big matchup on Sunday could become so memorable. The duel between the exuberant Jamaican and the American is seen as the biggest event of the nine-day championships.

Powell redeemed himself after he eased up in his opening heat and only qualified by 0.02 seconds.

“I was running too easy. I underestimated the guys,” Powell said. “It’s kind of scary.”

The former world record holder is only competing at the worlds because the IAAF insisted that the Jamaican team could not cut him because he did not attend a mandatory training camp.

Dwain Chambers of Britain, who tested positive for the steroid THG in 2003 and served a two-year doping suspension, won his quarterfinal heat in 10.04.

Just after the 100, the women’s 10,000 was decided by fractions of seconds.

Linet Masai of Kenya broke Ethiopia’s decade-long hold on the race with a blistering finishing kick that took a prematurely celebrating Meselech Melkamu by surprise. Masai finished in 30 minutes, 51.24 seconds to win by 0.10 seconds.

Ethiopia got bronze, too, with Wude Ayalew crossing third.

Pre-race favorite Meseret Defar ended up fifth after she almost came to a halt over the last meters despite leading into the final straight.

Christian Cantwell of the United States won the shot put title, beating Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland with a throw of 72 feet, 3 inches. Majewski took silver at 71-10¾ and Ralf Bartels earned the first medal for host nation Germany with a 70-1½ effort. Defending champion Reese Hoffa of the U.S. was fourth.

Cantwell finished second to Majewski in Beijing last summer.

Olympic champion Valeriy Borchin of Russia won the 20-kilometer walk, coming from behind to claim the first gold medal of the world championships. Hao Wang of China took silver and Eder Sanchez of Mexico was third.

In the women’s triple jump, two-time Olympic champion Francoise Mbango Etone pulled out of qualifying at the last moment. No reason was immediately available.

In her absence, defending champion Yargelis Savigne of Cuba, and 2001 and 2003 champion Tatyana Lebedeva easily advanced into Monday’s final.

(This version CORRECTS third-place finisher in women’s 10,000 per official scoring change.)