Men's 200 Semifinal Recap: Usain Bolt Cruises, The Race for Second is On
Shawn Crawford Says Bolt Will Run 19.28 and Charles Clark Gives Some Heartfelt Words on Jesse Owens
By LetsRun.com
August 19, 2009

The 200 meters semis at the 2009 World Tracka and Field Championships went largely according to form with Usain Bolt cruising to the final running 20.08 letting up way before the finish to win heat 1.

Wallace Spearmon, the 2005 silver medallist and 2007 bronze medallist and the only athlete in the field besides Bolt who has run under 20 seconds this year (19.98 at the Reebok meet in May) ,won heat 2 in 20.14.

Shawn Crawford who won the silver last year behind Bolt (and gold in Athens in 2004) will be hoping to replicate his runner-up performance in Friday's final and he talked with us (interview below) after the race where he ran 20.35 to finish 3rd in Bolt's heat. He said he needs a new strategy for the final and he was not happy with his race. The interview was the most entertaining one of the championships and while we know most of you don't watch many post race interviews this one is entertaining. He talks about how he was trying to chop Bolt's head off (ie slay the dragon) before the race (when he made a big chopping motion) and how he may need a new engine in addition to a new strategy for Friday's final. He also said he thinks Bolt will run 19.28 in the final.

Charles Clark the NCAA champ out of  Florida State ran a 20.27 season's best to make the final. Afterwards he talked about what it means to run in the same place as Jesse Owens. It's a short but very sincere clip.

2 interviews worth a  watch and results below. More post-race interviews here

1	3	656	Usain Bolt	JAM	20.08 Q		0.177
2	5	888	Alonso Edward	PAN	20.22 Q		0.164
3	6	1174	Shawn Crawford	USA	20.35 Q		0.140
4	4	434	David Alerte	FRA	20.45 Q	(SB)	0.147
5	7	552	Robert Hering	GER	20.52		0.157
6	2	1115	Rondell Sorrillo	TRI	20.63		0.128
7	8	599	Rolando Palacios	HON	20.67	(SB)	0.191
8	1	112	Brendan Christian	ANT	20.79		0.138

Heat 2

1	5	1230	Wallace Spearmon	USA	20.14 Q		0.164
2	3	664	Steve Mullings	JAM	20.26 Q		0.156
3	2	1172	Charles Clark	USA	20.27 Q	(SB)	0.163
4	4	154	Ramil Guliyev	AZE	20.28 Q		0.154
5	7	457	Martial Mbandjock	FRA	20.43	(PB)	0.155
6	8	622	Paul Hession	IRL	20.48		0.166
7	6	494	Marlon Devonish	GBR	20.62		0.154
8	1	1111	Emmanuel Callander	TRI	20.70		0.145