RIO DE JANEIRO – It's no easy thing to push Usain Bolt, even in an Olympic warm-up race.
Might be even tougher upstaging him.
But that happened on a wild Wednesday night in track. It began with the Jamaican star smiling, then wagging his finger at a brash up-and-comer in the 200-meter semifinals. It kept going with another Jamaican, Elaine Thompson, completing the first 100-200 women's double since 1988. And it closed with an American sweep of the hurdles to put the cherry on top of a seven-medal day for the United States on the track.
Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin finished 1-2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles to give the United States its first sweep in the event, its seventh in the history of Olympic track and the 23rd for U.S. women, regardless of sport, over the history of the Summer Games.
After they saw their names come up on the scoreboard, they huddled together, hugged and jumped up and down before grabbing their U.S. flags from the stands.
"I knew that I got the gold, but I just wanted to make sure that my other teammates got their medals, as well," Rollins said.
Also parading the stars and stripes were long-jumpers Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese, who finished 1-2, steeplechaser Evan Jager, who won silver earlier in the day, and Tori Bowie, who added a 200-meter bronze to her 100 silver.
All of the U.S. medals on the day except for Jager's silver came during a 60-minute span.
"It's been a good night," Bartoletta said. "It was an awesome hour."
Thompson might agree.
The 24-year-old Jamaican got off to a strong start and held off reigning world champion Dafne Schippers, who belly-flopped at the finish line but finished .10 seconds behind.
Thompson became the first woman since Marion Jones in 2000 to win both Olympic sprints.
The evening's most entertaining theater came, as usual, from Bolt, who will go for his eighth Olympic gold medal Thursday.
His main goal during the opening rounds is to conserve energy, which is exactly what he was doing when he looked to his right, saw Canada's Andre de Grasse a few steps behind and put it on cruise control.
Only problem was, de Grasse didn't back down. He sped up, caught up and, suddenly, the two were nose to nose, smiling at each other down the stretch. Bolt finished in 19.78 to win by a scant .02 seconds. He wagged his finger at the up-and-comer as they crossed the line.
"That was really unnecessary," Bolt said. "I don't know what he was trying to do. He's a young kid, he's great. He has a lot of talent. I'm looking forward to the competition in the final."
One man who won't be there is Justin Gatlin, who has given Bolt more run for his money than anyone over the past four years. In the evening's biggest stunner, Gatlin — who has been bothered by an ankle injury — finished third in his heat in 20.13 and did not qualify for the final.
A lost medal opportunity for the Americans, for sure. But they're ahead of the game.
Their victories Wednesday gave them 19 for the meet, already one more than they won through the entire world championships last year in Beijing.
Decathlete Ashton Eaton is a candidate to add to that haul. The defending champion finished Day 1 with a solid 121-point lead over Kai Kazmirek of Germany.
Amid all the gold, a silver in the steeplechase held special meaning to Jager, who finished 1 second behind Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto's Olympic record time of 8 minutes, 3.28 seconds.
"It feels like silver, but I'm totally OK with silver," said Jager, the first American to medal in the event since Brian Diemer in 1984.
