Felix bumped during the 4X100m heat; USA through to final after solo run
Drama unfolded in the qualifying heat for the USA 4X100 team as Allyson Felix dropped the baton in the second exchange of the relay knocking them out of the final and denying the team any chance at a medal.
Seven time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix was frustrated beyond comprehension when she dragged her feet on the track at the second exchange with English Gardner forcing her to stumble towards Gardner. In a desperate attempt to pass the baton to Gardner who had her right hand out Felix tossed the baton towards Gardner but the baton landed on the floor immediately disqualifying them. Gardner was clearly frustrated and was seen shouting with her hand on the head. Sanity prevailed as Felix instructed Gardner to pick up the baton and complete the race since any appeal requires the team to have completed the race.
A look at the replay revealed that as Felix was about to enter the exchange zone she was bumped on her right side by the Brazilian runner adjacent to her zone. After an appeal, the race referee decided to award the USA women’s team a chance to run the race on the same lane but they had to clock a better time than the 8th placed Chinese team which clocked 42.70. The quartet came out with a stunning performance in the re-run racing against themselves to qualify for the final topping the qualifier times with a finishing the event in 41.77.
Unstoppable Bolt wins the 200m comfortably
Usain Bolt, the undisputed sprint king of the world won the 200m at the Olympics and by doing so he became the 1st athlete to win the prestigious sprint double in 3 consecutive Olympic Games. He has now won Gold in both 100m & 200m at the 2008, 2012 & 2016 Olympics.
Bolt finished the race with a timing of 19.78 seconds while Andre de Grass of Canada won Silver with a time of 20.02 and Frenchman Christopher Lemaitre finished with the bronze medal.
