After a cruising win in the Round 1 of the 200m, Usain Bolt will hope to better his timing as he prepares for the semifinals of the event on Wednesday. The world will keep a close eye on the Jamaican, who is favourite to win gold in the 200m, while fans in India will pin their hopes on Tintu Luka, who will participate in the women's 800m.
Bolt, who has been consistently talking about the possibility of breaking his own world record, will feature in the semifinals. Bolt was only the 16th fastest in the first round, with a timing of 20.28s, which will not concern the Jamaican.
Bolt will feature in the second heat of the semifinals, which is expected to be a thriller with Canada's youngster Andre De Grasse set to challenge Bolt in the 200m. The Canadian, who won bronze in the 100m, clocked the fastest timing of 20.09s in 200m in Round 1.
Though Bolt's timings might have read 20.28, De Grasse and rest of the competitors are aware that the Jamaican took round 1 lightly. The last heat of the event will also be a close contest, with two star sprinters, Yohan Blake and Justin Gatlin keen to qualify for the finals without a hitch.
Bolt, Grasse, Blake, Gatlin and LaShawn Merritt are expected to cruise into the 200m finals.
Besides this, the women's 200m final will be one of the big attractions on Wednesday. After a sensational win in the 100m, Jamaica's Alaine Thompson will be eager to win another sprint event in Rio. However, the task is not going to be easy by any means, with Netherlands' Dafne Schippers and US' Tori Bowie being major competitors among others.
The Dutch woman is one of the strong contenders for gold, and has further strengthened her position with fastest time in qualifying. The men's 300m steeplechase final and the women's long jump finals will also entertain the crowd on Day 12 in Rio.
The women's 100m hurdles is also going to take place, with both the semifinals and finals scheduled for Wednesday. US trio of Brianna Rollins, Kristi Castlin and Nia Ali, will be a huge threat, but one cannot ignore stars like Megan Simmonds from Jamaica among other athletes.
Luka will feature in the third heat of Round 1, which includes some quality athletes from Kenya, Ethopia and other nations, but the Indian needs to concentrate on giving her best, and qualify for the semifinals. After failing to qualify for the finals of the 800m event in London Olympics, she has gained much more experience in the last four years. This Rio 2016 gives her a chance to qualify for the finals.
At the Asian level, the girl from Kerala has been decent, but she has not been able to deliver at world events. Can she deliver at the grandest stage of all in Rio?
Where to Watch Live
The men's 200m semifinals stars from 10 p.m. local time (6.30 a.m. IST). The women's 800m is scheduled for 10:55 am local time start (7:25 p.m start). The women's 200m final can be watched live from 10:30 p.m. local time (7 a.m. IST), women's 100m hurdles will take place at 10:55 pm local time start (7:25 a.m).
India: TV: Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2 and DD National. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
Jamaica: TV: Television Jamaica CVM.
USA: TV: NBC. Live Streaming: NBC Sports live extra, NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics app.
Brazil: TV: SporTV, Globo, Fox Sports and ESPN.
UK and Ireland: TV: BBC. Live Streaming: BBCiPlayer.
Germany: TV: ARD and ZDF.
Australia: TV: Channel 7, 7Two and 7Mate. Live Streaming: Channel 7 online.
Middle East: TV: Bein Sports Arabia. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
