Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/714702
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2016 49 Sport OLYMPICS Rio gets Bolt fever Usain Bolt looked impressive in the heats of the 100 metres as the world's fastest man finally brought the crowds to Rio's Olympic Stadium THE Jamaican, in Brazil to complete the 'triple tri- ple' of Olympic sprint titles, admitted he was "slug- gish" out of the blocks, but was still comfortable enough to look across to check his position by half- way and shut down well before the line. He came home in 10.07 seconds as his American rival for gold, Justin Gatlin, was the fastest qualifier overall in 10.01s. "I'm happy to get the first one out, it felt okay," said Bolt. "It wasn't the best start. Hopefully tomorrow I can go much smoother, I'm feeling good, I'm happy. "Now it's all about execution and getting it right when it comes to the final." The 29-year-old, though, clearly looked to be feeling no lingering ill-effects of the hamstring strain which forced him out of the Jamaican trials, while the rusti- ness he spoke about after his last appearance before the Games, over 200m in London, was also far less evident. Bolt had taken to social media ahead of the Games in a bid to drum up ticket sales and, after the opening day of action on Friday was watched by pitifully few spectators, far more flocked to the 56,000-capacity stadium to watch the sport's great entertainer, even if it was still far from a full house. In the last week, as the circus that surrounds Bolt has rolled into Rio, he has strutted his stuff with scantily-clad samba dancers and been serenaded by a Norwegian journalist-cum-freestyle rapper. On the track, though, he means business. Looking relaxed, he applauded all sides of the stadium when he came out, but there was no joking around when intro- duced to the crowd on the start line. Just raised arms and another clap. There were no boos from the crowd when Gatlin, the two-time drug cheat, was introduced, though. "Every Olympics is special," said the 34-year-old who won Olympic gold 12 years ago in Athens. "As you become a more seasoned athlete you under- stand the importance of running at the Olympics." There was mixed news on the British front, with Chijindu Ujah breezing into Sunday's semi-finals in 10.13s and James Dasaolu joining him as a fastest loser after clocking 10.18. But James Ellington crashed out thanks to a time of 10.29. The 100m final takes place tonight. Usain Bolt drew the crowds to the Olympic Stadium Murray reaches Rio tennis final GOLD rather than history will be on Andy Murray's mind when he plays in a second successive Olym- pic final on Sunday. The world number two is the first man ever to achieve the feat and, should he retain the title he won so gloriously in 2012, he would become the first tennis player to win back to back singles golds. In an era dominated by three all- time greats, to accomplish some- thing Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have not done first, and probably never will, is a huge feather in Murray's cap. "The goal is to just try and win a gold medal," he said. "I'm not really thinking about any of the stuff that goes with that just now. "It's obviously a very difficult thing to do, hence why it's not been done before. I'll go out there, hopefully play a good match, fight as hard as I can, give it everything and see what happens." If Murray can find the same form he showed in a 6-1 6-4 demolition of fourth seed Kei Nishikori then he will be tough to beat. The 29-year-old knew he needed to step things up after surviving tight, tense tussles against Fabio Fognini and Steve Johnson and he did just that. Murray served superbly and domi- nated off the ground, with Nishikori failing to create a break point during the match. The Scot said: "I served very well and I had no lulls in the match. I made most of the games really tough for him. Even the ones that I lost he was having to work hard for. "I knew after yesterday, both of us had long matches. His singles was physically probably tougher than mine but I also had to play mixed (doubles). "I knew if I could get off to a good start, make it physically tough for him after that then it would be hard and that's what happened." The one big disappointment was the crowd, with the stadium half full at best by the end and significantly less than that for much of it. But they were all on their feet at the end of the remarkable penultimate point, which ended with Murray sat on his backside with arm aloft after somehow conjuring a winning pass- ing shot. He said: "I just came up with a bit of a lucky shot down the line. I didn't even see it bounce so I didn't know whether it was in or not. Thankfully it was good. "I was obviously pumped because if he turns that around and poten- tially breaks it's a totally different match. It was a huge point." One thing Murray certainly should not lack, whether he plays Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin Del Potro in the final, is confidence. He extended his career-best win- ning streak to 17 matches and has now won 28 of his last 29, winning titles in Rome, at Queen's Club and Wimbledon and reaching the final of the French Open. Murray was rewarded for his achievements both Olympic and otherwise by being given the hon- our of carrying the British flag at the opening ceremony and is pleased to have ensured he will contribute to the medals table. He can at worst leave Rio with silver, adding to the singles gold and mixed doubles sil- ver he won in London. "The last four months definitely have been the best period of my ca- reer," said Murray. "My job is to try to keep that going now and keep up the consistency I've had. "I've played not my best tennis this week but found a way to win. Often in events you have matches like the one yesterday or the one against Fognini that if you can get through you start to find your form and feel better. "When you're competing for your country you do feel a bit of ex- tra responsibility, obviously. "After carrying the flag, I didn't want to go and bomb out in the first round and not play well. I'm glad I was able to win a medal and to win gold would cap off a special 10 days for me." Andy Murray