U.S. Track and Field Trials | Felix, Gay easily advance in 200 heats

EUGENE, Ore. — Allyson Felix still has work to do to earn her trip to Beijing.

If things keep going the way they did Friday, it won't be hard work.

Felix coasted to a victory in her 200-meter preliminary heat, leaving her three races away from earning the Olympic spot that pretty much seems preordained.

She would already be in had she finished in the top three last weekend in the 100, but that didn't happen, so she must get there in her best event.

She won her heat in 22.68 seconds, wiping the brow below her white headband when it was over, then heading quickly off the track. Quarterfinals and semis are today, and finals are Sunday.

"I've been waiting for this moment since I was a child, so it's good to get it started," Felix said.

She conceded her fifth-place finish in the 100 was hard to overlook in the long week since the finals.

"I thought about it," she said. "I didn't set myself up good in the semis ... but I felt like I executed as best as I could."

Joining Felix in the next round are the usual suspects: 100 trials champion Muna Lee, Lauryn Williams, Marshevet Hooker, Carmelita Jeter.

It was pretty much the same thing on the men's side, where Tyson Gay returned to the track for the first time since his wind-aided 9.68-second win in the 100 last weekend. He eased to a win in the 200.

He finished in 20.43 and there was no scare, the way there was in his first 100 heat, when he pulled up early, misjudging the finish line before finishing strong to save face, and the race.

"It feels good," Gay said. "I just needed that first run to get rid of the cobwebs. It felt pretty good and relaxing. That's about the time I wanted to run."

Wallace Spearmon is in the same spot as Felix, having missed the 100 — his bonus race of sorts — and now concentrating on the 200. He cruised to the next round in 20.81.

In the men's 1,500-meter semifinals, there were no surprises. The finals are Sunday — the last event of the 10-day meet — and it is shaping up as one of the most competitive races on the card. There are only three spots available for five, maybe more, contenders. Former Washington State standout Bernard Lagat, Alan Webb, Leonel Manzano and Lopez Lomong are all in the mix, and all advanced to the final.

In the 5,000 women's finals, Kara Goucher finished first and Shalane Flanagan came in third, giving both a chance at a double in Beijing. Each already had qualified in the 10,000.

Note

• Kent's Kyle Jenkins advanced out of the first flight of the triple jump with a leap of 52 feet, 4 ½ inches. The finals are Sunday.