Jamaicans Set to Sweep 200m

With three terrific sprinters. Usain Bolt breezed through the heat of his favorite event today. Yohan Blake too looked impressive. And so did fellow countryman Warren Weir. There were three athletes under 20 seconds in Beijing four years ago. We could have more tomorrow for the semis and on Thursday for the final. All this should push Jamaica up the medal rankings by several spots.

That's a nation of 2.9 million people. Just in case you're wondering.

100m Final Could Be Fastest Ever

And that for a number of reasons. First, going into the semis there are seven athletes who have sub-9.90 times this season. Second the track seems to be fast. Third athletes often lower their personal bests in such finals because everybody is running fast -- the case for half of the sprinters in the Beijing finals four years ago with only two runners taking more than 10 seconds to cover the distance. Finally there is one Usain Bolt running and he could beat his own world record of 9.58s simply because he is reaching the age of peak-performance or could benefit from a slightly faster wind or reaction time.

It's not impossible that Jamaica sweeps the dash. And it would make for a wonderful celebration too. Indeed independent Jamaica turns 50 in a few hours.