KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) ? No posing, no salutes, no fist pumping. Yohan Blake simply paced in front of the jam-packed grandstand at National Stadium and stared up into the crowd, letting all those fans soak in a nice, long look.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the man to beat at the London Olympics.
In a result that can no longer be considered a surprise, Blake beat Usain Bolt in the 200 meters at Jamaican Olympic trials Sunday, finishing in 19.80 seconds to edge the world-record holder by 0.03.
When it was over, Bolt was the first one to approach his training partner and buddy and give him a big bear hug. Moments later, Bolt was down on the ground, getting his right hamstring stretched out, while Blake was celebrating ? rather modestly ? in front of the grandstand.
"A lot of people gave me encouragement, said, 'Yohan Blake, you can do it,'" Blake said. "I just wanted to keep performing and keep going."
The win came two days after Blake, the reigning world 100 champion, beat Bolt in the 100 by running a personal-best 9.75.
That was a shocker, but there were explanations ? most notably the terrible starts Bolt got off to throughout the 100 heats and in the final. Bolt has always considered the 200, which better suits his lanky 6-foot-5 frame, his real work. And indeed, he has work to do there, as well.
As they approached the finish line, Bolt was grimacing ? or was that the hint of a frustrated smile ? as he looked to his left to see what hardly anyone could have imagined earlier this week: Blake beating him to the finish line for the second time in the span of three days.
"I'll have to figure out what I did wrong and work on it," Bolt said.
In the women's 200, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran a personal best 22.10 seconds to also complete the 100-200 sweep. She'll be joined by Sherone Simpson and two-time defending Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown.
They'll all have some ground to make up. At U.S. trials this weekend, Allyson Felix won the 200 final, also in a personal best of 21.69 seconds.
"I'm happy for Allyson," Campbell-Brown said. "That's a very good time for her. And the faster we run, the sweeter it will be at the Olympic Games, because anyone who wins that will have to run very, very fast."
Same thing for the guys, and for the next four weeks, the guessing game figures to take on Olympics-sized proportions.
Both Blake, Bolt and their coach, Glen Mills, all conceded that Blake came into these trials in better shape than the man whose marks ? 9.58 and 19.19 ? sit atop the record book.
So, was Bolt genuinely just coasting through this weekend in front of all his home fans, making sure he made it, getting ready for something bigger? Is his conditioning not up to snuff, and if so, is there time to get there? Or, might he be hurting, as it appeared when he was getting his leg worked on while lying on the track?
"I don't want to get into that," Bolt said.
Mills, meanwhile, said he wasn't concerned with his star student ? or at least the man who used to be his star student.
"Usain, he has the experience, the ability, he has been there already," Mills said. "He might be a little off at the moment but I'm sure when the time of delivery comes around, he'll be on top of his game."
Associated Press
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