Felix, Gay advance to 200 dash quarterfinals

• By EDDIE PELLS
• AP National Writer
• Published: Jul 5, 2008 - Page: 6C - UPDATED: 12:35 a.m.

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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 wouldn’t be under any pressure 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, I put myself way out there in lane 8, which was not smart. I felt out of touch with the race. But I felt like I executed as best as I could.”

Joining Felix in the next round will be all the usual suspects: 100 trials champion and former LSU standout Muna Lee, Lauryn Williams, Marshevet Hooker, Carmelita Jeter. There weren’t any surprises in a competition that included five heats to eliminate only five runners.

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 practically jogged to the finish, looking around him for anyone who might be closing in. Nobody was.

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.”