RIO DE JANEIRO -- Its no easy thing to push Usain Bolt, even in an Olympic warm-up race.It might be even tougher to upstage him.Some of Wednesday nights most entertaining theater came, as usual, from the Jamaican star, who smiled and wagged his finger at a brash up-and-comer while winning his 200-meter semifinals heat. Bolt will go for his eighth Olympic gold in the final on Thursday.Bolts main goal during the opening rounds is to conserve energy, which is exactly what he was doing when he looked to his right, saw Canadas Andre de Grasse a few steps behind him and put it on cruise control.The only problem was, de Grasse, the bronze medalist in the 100, didnt back down. He sped up, caught up and suddenly, the two were nose-to-nose, peering and smiling at each other down the stretch. Bolt finished in 19.78 to win by a scant .02 seconds. He wagged his finger at de Grasse as they crossed the line.That was really unnecessary, Bolt said. I dont know what he was trying to do. Hes a young kid. Hes great. He has a lot of talent. Im looking forward to the competition in the final.The competition wont include American Justin Gatlin, who has given Bolt more run for his money than anyone else over the past four years. In the evenings biggest stunner, Gatlin finished third in his heat and did not qualify for the final.He said he rolled an ankle in the run-up to the Olympics and was happy just to make it here.Probably, I should have rested it instead of running on it, said Gatlin, who finished second to Bolt in the 100.Team USAs Lashawn Merritt did qualify for the final. He finished first in his semifinal and third overall with a time of 19.94.Joining Gatlin (20.13) in failing to qualify was American Ameer Webb (20.43).Bolt, who has his eyes on not only the win but maybe another world record, is hoping his time will come Thursday night.I definitely think I can try for the world record, said the sprinter, whose current record in the 200 stands at 19.19 seconds. But now, its executing right, running the corner efficiently and coming in the straight and running the perfect race.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Kyle Singler Jersey . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Zeljko Rebraca Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. https://www.cheappistonsonline.com/1476y-blake-griffin-jersey-pistons.html . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Chris Ford Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Christian Wood Jersey . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Former Commonwealth Games gold-medalist Manoj Kumar (64kg) put up a spirited show but could not match the power of fifth seed Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in his pre-quarterfinal bout to bow out of the Olympic Games on Sunday.The 29-year-old Indian went down 3-0. The 25-year-old Gaibnazarov, the World and Asian Championships silver-medallist from Uzbekistan, was the unanimous choice as the winner.In the opening round, Manoj kept his rival at a distance, denying him a clear shot. The dodge-first-attack-later strategy managed to unsettle the Uzbek for sometime but Gaibnazarov clinched the initiative with a couple of left jabs in the closing seconds.In the second round, Gaibnazarov continued to rely on his strong left, prompting a standing eight count against the Indian. The Uzbeks foot moovement was lucid after he had clearly got a hang of the Indians strategy and he connected much better.ddddddddddddManoj was guilty of not using his height and reach advantage to the fullest and was clearly shaken by a vicious blow to his torso by Gaibnazarovs powerful left hand.The Haryana boxer was more aggressive in the final round but Gaibnazarovs footwork and tremendous balance while back-peddling negated the attempted attacks.With Manoj and Shiva Thapa (56kg), who lost in the opening round, ousted from contention, Indias boxing campaign now comprises only Vikas Krishan (75kg).Vikas is scheduled to fight his quarterfinal at 3.30am IST on Tuesday. ' ' '