Who is De Grasse and why Bolt wagged his finger at him after Rio 200m semis

August 18, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 18: Usain Bolt crossed the finish line and wagged his finger at the brash up-and-comer who dared challenge him.

Didn’t Andre de Grasse know that nobody’s supposed to mess with the Jamaican’s 200 meters? Especially at the Olympics.

Bolt, in search of his eighth Olympic gold, considers the 200 his best race and, in the past, has taken umbrage with anyone who suggests they might beat him.

bolt

De Grasse tried to in the semifinals, even though he and Bolt were clearly in the top two spots as they came down the stretch, and securely into Thursday night’s final.

Instead of slowing, de Grasse sped up and forced Bolt, who had already slowed down, to pick up the pace.

The two looked at each other and smiled as they approached the finish line. Bolt leaned across in 19.78 seconds, only .02 ahead of the Canadian.

Bolt wagged his finger at de Grasse and laughed. But he didn’t really find it funny.

“That was really unnecessary,” Bolt said. “I don’t know what he was trying to do. He’s a young kid, he’s great. He has a lot of talent. I’m looking forward to the competition in the final.”

De Grasse conceded he pushed too hard. On Thursday, nobody will be coasting in.

As much as winning his eighth Olympic gold medal, Bolt is aiming for a world record. He holds the current mark, at 19.19 seconds, but thinks a sub-19 time could be possible.

“Now, it’s (about) executing right, running the corner efficiently, and coming in the straight and running the perfect race,” he said.

If things go terribly wrong for him, here are some others who could be a factor:

The 21-year-old bronze medalist in the 100 meters could represent a changing of the guard in the sprint game. Big question: Did pushing Bolt for a relatively meaningless semifinal placing actually sap any strength from the champion?

It’s not Bolt, but Merritt, who currently has the year’s best time at 200 meters (19.74 seconds). But it’s not Merritt’s best race. That would be the 400, where four nights earlier, Merritt staggered across the line in third, nearly a full second off of Wayde van Niekerk’s world-record pace. How much did that take out of Merritt? We shall see. He’d have to be ecstatic with any kind of medal in his “bonus race.”

The 32-year-old native of Curacao runs for the Netherlands. His claim to fame was finishing second to Bolt at the 2008 Olympics but losing the medal after officials determined he stepped outside his lane. The man who received it, Shawn Crawford, didn’t think it was a fair ruling and gave Martina back his silver, though the official results stayed the same.

Um, well, no. After capturing silver in the 100, the main challenger to Bolt over the past two years didn’t qualify for the 200 final. He revealed he’d been dealing with an injured ankle. But he isn’t checking out completely from the race. “I’ll be out there rubbing his shoulders, with a towel on him, like, ‘All right Rocky, get yourself ready,’“ Gatlin said, doing his best impression of Burgess Meredith’s trainer character in the “Rocky” movies.

THE REST

None of the following four — Christophe Lemaitre, Alonso Edward, Adam Gemili or Ramil Guliyev — have cracked 20 seconds this year. If they get caught up in Bolt’s tailwind, they might.

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February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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January 15,2020

Jan 15: Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch both struck superb centuries to complement their bowlers’ inspired display as the touring side handed out a 10-wicket thrashing to India in the opening one-day international in Mumbai.

India, world-ranked No 2 in ODIs, suffered a middle-order collapse on their way to being bundled out for 255 in the final over of their innings after Australia captain Finch won the toss and opted to field in the first of the three-match series.

Warner and Finch then smashed the Indian bowlers to all corners of the ground, picking up boundaries seemingly at will to chase down the target with 74 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.

Left-handed Warner successfully used the decision review system twice to overturn the umpire’s decision on his way to his 18th ODI century, hitting three sixes and 17 fours in his unbeaten knock of 128, from 112 balls. Finch completed his 16th century in the format, his unbeaten innings 110 from 114 features two sixes and 13 fours.

Earlier, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who made his ODI debut in India 10 years ago, picked up three wickets to set up Australia’s victory. He struck the first blow with the new ball when he sent back Rohit Sharma for 10.

India managed to recover from that early loss through a second-wicket stand of 121 between opener Shikhar Dhawan, who top-scored for the hosts with 74, and KL Rahul. However left-arm spinner Ashton Agar broke the stand by dismissing Rahul for 47 before Agar caught Dhawan off Pat Cummins in the next over.

The hosts were hoping for a solid innings from captain Virat Kohli, who batted a position lower than his usual No 3 spot to accommodate Rahul, to get them out of trouble. However, he lasted only 14 balls, hitting leg-spinner Adam Zampa for a six before offering a return catch to the bowler on the very next delivery to be out for 16.

Starc then returned to the attack, removing Shreyas Iyer cheaply as India lost four wickets for 30 runs to be reduced to 164 for five. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja then fell just short of a half-century partnership, before the remaining four wickets falling for 42 runs, with Cummins and fast bowler Kane Richardson picking up two wickets apiece for Australia.

To compound India’s woes, wicketkeeper Pant suffered a concussion after being hit on his helmet by a short-pitched delivery from Cummins. The Indian cricket board said Pant, who did not come out to keep wicket and was replaced behind the stumps by Rahul, was under observation. The two sides will meet in Rajkot for the second ODI on Friday.

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