Olympics daily: Usain Bolt aims to break his own 200m world record

USAIN Bolt has qualified with ease for the final of the men’s 200m final and believes he can shatter his own world record in tonight’s race, while Sir Chris Hoy says he is uncertain whether he will be able to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in two years.

TODAY’S STORIES

• Usain Bolt’s quest for a second Olympic sprint double remains very much on course after a convincing victory last night in his semi-final of the 200 metres. The Jamaican again displayed the remarkable art of moving very fast while looking very languid, crossing the line in 20.18 seconds.

• Asked about breaking his record of 19.19s - set when winning the world title in Berlin in 2009 - Bolt added: “It is a possibility, definitely. The track is fast and there are a lot of great competitors. I am looking forward to it. If I put it on my mind you never know if it is going to happen.”

• Mo Farah feels there is a target on his back following his Olympic 10,000m triumph, but vowed to give everything in his bid for an historic long-distance double in London. Farah was made to work hard in his heat of the 5,000m yesterday morning, eventually finishing third in 13 min 26 sec to reach Saturday’s final.

• Sir Chris Hoy has declared he is “proud” to be part of a British team alongside athletes from England and other parts of the UK, in his first comment on the possibility of Scottish independence. The Edinburgh-born cyclist said he wanted to continue competing as both a British and Scottish athlete.

• Sir Chris admits that he may not be in the velodrome that bears his name at Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games. He said: “The dream scenario is to have that as my swansong, but it’s a big ask, it’s two more years,” he said. “I’d love to do it, but whether it happens or not, I don’t know.”

• Allyson Felix finally won an individual Olympic gold medal, gliding home with her effortless stride to take the 200 metres and end the stranglehold of Veronica Campbell-Brown on the event.

MEDAL WATCH

1 China: Gold 36 / Silver 22 / Bronze 19 / Total 77

2 United States: Gold 34 / Silver 22 / Bronze 25 / Total 81

3 Team GB: Gold 22 / Silver 13 / Bronze 13 / Total 48

MUST-SEE EVENTS

KERI-ANNE PAYNE - 10km OPEN WATER SWIM

NOON, HYDE PARK

BRITISh hopes of a gold medal in the water rest on Keri-Anne Payne’s shoulders on Thursday when she takes to the Serpentine for the gruelling 10 kilometre open water. Payne won silver in Beijing and has subsequently claimed two world crowns is cast as favourite. But the 24-year-old, who is engaged to Scottish swimmer David Carry, is adamant the nature of open water renders that meaningless. She said: “You can see from the results over the last couple of years. I was second in Beijing, I won the worlds after that but then the worlds after that I came 10th and then in Shanghai I won. So it completely depends on who is the best athlete on the day.”

LUKE PATIENCE - SAILING

13:00, WEYMOUTH

ARGYLL sailor Luke Patience and English partner Stuart Bithell are mathematically assured of at least a silver medal in the men’s 470 class at London 2012. The pair have amassed a large enough points margin after Tuesday’s first race to be sure that the third-placed crew – currently Argentina – cannot catch them. Patience and Bithell now face a straight glory fight with Australia’s world champions Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page for gold in today’s medal race. “We didn’t come here for second place,” Patience said. “We’re really happy boys [to get silver] but there is work to be done. There is yet another race and yet another opportunity to upgrade.”

NICOLA ADAMS - WOMEN’S BOXING FINAL

16:30, EXCEL ARENA

NICOLA Adams stands one more win away from realising her dream of hanging an Olympic gold medal around her neck after cruising through her flyweight semi-final against india’s Mary Kom. The Leeds 29-year-old boxed superbly in the electric Excel Arena atmosphere to subdue Kom 11-6 and book today’s gold medal match against China’s world number one Ren Cancan. Adams says she has no fear of the Chinese fighter and holds a one-point win over Ren from the Strandja Cup in February this year. Then it’s Ireland’s darling Katie Taylor in her lightweight final against Russia’s Sofya Ochigava, roared on by the 10,000 plus irish fans who have been packing in to the London venue.

LYNSEY SHARP - 800m SEMI-FINALS

19:30, OLYMPIC STADIUM

EDiNBURGH’S Lynsey Sharp looked good as she made it to the semi-finals of the women’s 800m in an impressive heat showing yesterday morning. The Scot under pressure to justify her place after her selection for the 800m with only the ‘B’ qualifying time meant four athletes with the ‘A’ standard – Jenny Meadows, Emma Jackson, Jemma Simpson and Marilyn Okoro - missed out. The European silver medallist was second in her heat behind Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo, qualifying automatically for tonight’s semis. “Obviously it [the selection controversy] was in the back of my mind, but I just thought of it as any other race,” Sharp said. “I’ve run in races of a higher quality than that this year so that’s prepared me well.”

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL FINAL

19:45, WEMBLEY

The lack of interest in women’s football was one of the running jokes of the excellent BBC spoof Twenty Twelve in the run up to the Games. in the end, it has been a resounding success and arguably more entertaining than the men’s event. Great Britain, with Scot Kim Little a standout, performed well in the pool stage and beat Brazil in front of over 70,000 at Wembley. They lost out to Canada, who themselves fell 4-3 after extra-time in an epic Old Trafford tussle with the USA. The Americans’ heroine was glamorous forward Alex Morgan who headed a dramatic late winner to book a gold medal showdown with Japan. The US, whose Olympic journey began in Glasgow, start slight favourites to defend their title.

USAIN BOLT 200m FINAL

20:55, OLYMPIC STADIUM

USAIN Bolt is oozing confidence that he will retain his 200m title in the showpiece race of tonight’s athletics schedule. After his 100m victory on Sunday he was emphatic that team-mate Yohan Blake, who many tipped as a potential Olympic champion after he beat Bolt in the Jamaican trials, would not be given it any easier in the longer sprint. “I’ve told Yohan Blake that the 200m will be different because that’s my pet event,” Bolt said. “I’m not going to let him beat me again. I’ve said that to him already.” Blake was circumspect. “We have the 200m coming up. I think it’s going to be an interesting one,” he said after the 100m final.