Gay, Gatlin easily advance in 1st round of 100

DES MOINES, Iowa – Tyson Gay was barely out of breath after breezing through his 100-meter heat. Moments later, Justin Gatlin was hardly even huffing after he finished.

Gay and Gatlin scarcely worked up a sweat as they easily cruised through the first round of the 100 on Thursday at the U.S. track championships. Their times were not blistering, but that wasn’t the point on this windy day, only advancing in as little effort as possible.

By moving on, they’re moving toward a showdown in today’s final.

“It felt good,” said Gay, who trimmed his hair to be more aerodynamic. “Just get the nerves out.”

Gay powered down his lane to win his heat in 10.28 seconds. Gatlin cruised across the line in 10.37, taking second in his heat.

Galen Rupp closed the first night of the meet by winning his fifth straight 10,000-meter national title. Shalane Flanagan won the women’s 10,000 by more than 30 seconds.

In other finals on Thursday, Omar Craddock and Andrea Geubelle took home triple jump titles, while Brittany Borman won the javelin.