Wallace Spearmon

LONDON - The field for the men's 200-meter final was set Wednesday, and it promises to be as spectacular as the 100 was just a few days ago. Usain Bolt of Jamaica, trying for his second straight Olympic sprint sweep, eased to the finish line at the Olympic Stadium in 20.18 seconds, which turned out to be the fifth-best semifinal time. Jamaica's Yohan Blake had the top time of 20.01, beating American Wallace Spearmon (20.02) in a photo finish in their heat. Christophe Lemaitre of France had the third-best time, 20.03.

LONDON -- These are Usain Bolt's Olympic Games. Everyone else here is simply running, jumping, swimming, cycling and rowing in his happy wake. Relaxed enough to drape a comforting arm around the jittery volunteer responsible for collecting his gear at the start line and cheeky enough to give a stiff-wristed royal wave as he was introduced to the Olympic Stadium crowd, Bolt completed a golden grand slam by becoming the first man to win the 100- and...

LONDON -- Usain Bolt is performance, and performance art. He eggs on the crowd, eases up and dares other runners to catch him, strikes his trademark "Lightning Bolt" pose when they do not. "He has matured a lot," said his American rival, Wallace Spearmon. "The antics have been turned down a little bit. " Matured? Tell us how. "First time I saw Bolt, he was playing tag with some little girls 10 minutes before our race," Spearmon said. On Thursday, in a shade under 20 seconds, Bolt will win the 200 meters and crown himself a legend.

LONDON - The field for the men's 200-meter final was set Wednesday, and it promises to be as spectacular as the 100 was just a few days ago. Usain Bolt of Jamaica, trying for his second straight Olympic sprint sweep, eased to the finish line at the Olympic Stadium in 20.18 seconds, which turned out to be the fifth-best semifinal time. Jamaica's Yohan Blake had the top time of 20.01, beating American Wallace Spearmon (20.02) in a photo finish in their heat. Christophe Lemaitre of France had the third-best time, 20.03.

Four years is not long enough to forget. Not nearly long enough. It was the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Wallace Spearmon Jr. had just finished third in the 200 meters behind his pal, Usain Bolt. At least, he thought he had. Taking a victory jog around the track, with the American flag draped across his shoulders and photographers snapping pictures, Spearmon noticed Bolt's agent running toward him. "Wallace," the agent said, "you're disqualified. " "Me?" "You.

As they passed time before the start of the 200 meters, Usain Bolt feigned a jab to the jaw of U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon, who ducked it with a little movement of his head. If only it were that easy to get away from Bolt's punch on the track. Like everyone else, Spearmon is nothing more than a sparring partner, real or pantomimed, for the Jamaican who is knocking out rivals, world records and concepts of human limits as if they were so many palookas. By setting a world record of 19.19 seconds in Thursday's 200-meter final at the World Championships, Bolt took the sport into FloJo territory, where a single sprinter is light years rather than hundredths of a second ahead of the past and the present.

World record-holder Ben Johnson remained unbeaten in the 100-meter dash in 1987, winning easily in 10.29 seconds in the McVitie's Challenge track and field meet Sunday at rain-drenched Crystal Palace in London. American Tonie Campbell, who beat Greg Foster in the Mobil Grand Prix 110-meter high hurdles at Brussels Friday, won the rarely run 200-meter hurdles, beating Renaldo Nehemiah. But he failed to get near a 28-year-old world mark. Campbell was clocked in 23.17 to Nehemiah's 23.

LONDON -- These are Usain Bolt's Olympic Games. Everyone else here is simply running, jumping, swimming, cycling and rowing in his happy wake. Relaxed enough to drape a comforting arm around the jittery volunteer responsible for collecting his gear at the start line and cheeky enough to give a stiff-wristed royal wave as he was introduced to the Olympic Stadium crowd, Bolt completed a golden grand slam by becoming the first man to win the 100- and...

Usain Bolt cruised to another victory in the 200 meters at the World Athletics final at Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sunday, and American sprinter Carmelita Jeter became the third-fastest woman ever by clocking 10.67 seconds in the 100. Bolt finished in 19.68 in his last race of the season, coming fast out of the bend as usual but relaxing toward the end. Wallace Spearmon of the United States was second in 20.21 and Brendan Christian ...

LONDON - It's always entertaining when Usain Bolt competes, and on Tuesday the Jamaican 100-meter gold medalist returned to the track to run the first heat of the 200 and put on a show for the crowd during the morning track-and-field session at Olympic Stadium. Bolt went through his usual pre-race poses and gestures and put in some effort before jogging to the finish line in time to win his heat in 20.39 seconds. The fastest qualifying time was posted by Alex Quinonez of Ecuador, a national-record 20.28.

LONDON -- Usain Bolt is performance, and performance art. He eggs on the crowd, eases up and dares other runners to catch him, strikes his trademark "Lightning Bolt" pose when they do not. "He has matured a lot," said his American rival, Wallace Spearmon. "The antics have been turned down a little bit. " Matured? Tell us how. "First time I saw Bolt, he was playing tag with some little girls 10 minutes before our race," Spearmon said. On Thursday, in a shade under 20 seconds, Bolt will win the 200 meters and crown himself a legend.

LONDON - It's always entertaining when Usain Bolt competes, and on Tuesday the Jamaican 100-meter gold medalist returned to the track to run the first heat of the 200 and put on a show for the crowd during the morning track-and-field session at Olympic Stadium. Bolt went through his usual pre-race poses and gestures and put in some effort before jogging to the finish line in time to win his heat in 20.39 seconds. The fastest qualifying time was posted by Alex Quinonez of Ecuador, a national-record 20.28.

Four years is not long enough to forget. Not nearly long enough. It was the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Wallace Spearmon Jr. had just finished third in the 200 meters behind his pal, Usain Bolt. At least, he thought he had. Taking a victory jog around the track, with the American flag draped across his shoulders and photographers snapping pictures, Spearmon noticed Bolt's agent running toward him. "Wallace," the agent said, "you're disqualified. " "Me?" "You.

Usain Bolt cruised to another victory in the 200 meters at the World Athletics final at Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sunday, and American sprinter Carmelita Jeter became the third-fastest woman ever by clocking 10.67 seconds in the 100. Bolt finished in 19.68 in his last race of the season, coming fast out of the bend as usual but relaxing toward the end. Wallace Spearmon of the United States was second in 20.21 and Brendan Christian ...

As they passed time before the start of the 200 meters, Usain Bolt feigned a jab to the jaw of U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon, who ducked it with a little movement of his head. If only it were that easy to get away from Bolt's punch on the track. Like everyone else, Spearmon is nothing more than a sparring partner, real or pantomimed, for the Jamaican who is knocking out rivals, world records and concepts of human limits as if they were so many palookas. By setting a world record of 19.19 seconds in Thursday's 200-meter final at the World Championships, Bolt took the sport into FloJo territory, where a single sprinter is light years rather than hundredths of a second ahead of the past and the present.

BEIJING -- To those who know track and field, to those who have watched Usain Bolt grow up, the most significant step he made wasn't what has happened in the last three months, when the Jamaican jumped from sprinting's elite into a class of his own. The key stride came when Bolt went from child prodigy and junior level phenom to a consistently successful runner at the senior world level, where he has competed since 2004. "I knew when he was 15 years old that if he was still in athletics six years later, he would be something really, really great," said Jamaican Coach Steven Francis.

BEIJING -- To those who know track and field, to those who have watched Usain Bolt grow up, the most significant step he made wasn't what has happened in the last three months, when the Jamaican jumped from sprinting's elite into a class of his own. The key stride came when Bolt went from child prodigy and junior level phenom to a consistently successful runner at the senior world level, where he has competed since 2004. "I knew when he was 15 years old that if he was still in athletics six years later, he would be something really, really great," said Jamaican Coach Steven Francis.

World record-holder Ben Johnson remained unbeaten in the 100-meter dash in 1987, winning easily in 10.29 seconds in the McVitie's Challenge track and field meet Sunday at rain-drenched Crystal Palace in London. American Tonie Campbell, who beat Greg Foster in the Mobil Grand Prix 110-meter high hurdles at Brussels Friday, won the rarely run 200-meter hurdles, beating Renaldo Nehemiah. But he failed to get near a 28-year-old world mark. Campbell was clocked in 23.17 to Nehemiah's 23.