Ato Boldon said before the race it was:
"The only person who has ever run a sub-19.6 200 out of lane three is Michael Johnson. Everybody else that has run that fast has done it from either lanes 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8. Usain has drawn lane 5. Wallace Spearmon drew lane 9. Ideally, Usain would have wanted lane 9 because that is a great lane for tall runners since the turn radius is not as tight and you get on the straight earlier, before everyone else if you do it right. Lane 5 is fine though, and might actually be good for Bolt because of the staggered start, it gives you a weird illusion of runners being closer to you than they actually are. If he's seeing bodies close to him, he may run at 100 percent for longer."
http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/news/newsid=238353.html
I do not see this discussed much. Is that because the .9 headwind countered any benefit of the lane advantage??