Jamaica’s Blake Faces 200 With a Nudge From Bolt

LONDON – Yohan Blake is young and fast, but if he leaves the London Olympics without a gold medal in the individual sprints, it will be his own fault. He’s the one who woke up the sleeping giant.

Blake, 22, won the world championship in the 100 meters last year after Usain Bolt was disqualified for a false start, then he beat Bolt in both the 100 and the 200 at Jamaica’s Olympic trials. Bolt shrugged off the first loss, given that he had not even run the race, but the two recent defeats stirred him. Blake and six other men paid the price Sunday in the 100 final: Bolt’s winning time, 9.63 seconds, was the second-fastest ever run.

“Yohan gave me a wake-up call,” Bolt said after Sunday’s win. “He knocked on my door and said: ‘Usain, this is an Olympic year. Wake up.’ So I’m grateful for that.”

Now Bolt is focused on the 200, his favorite event. Blake (20.38) and Bolt (20.39) each qualified for the semifinals with less-than-full efforts in their heats on Tuesday morning, but Bolt promised he would not be coasting into Thursday’s final.