Britain's David Bolarinwa and Jamaica's Odane Skeen won their qualifying heats in the 100 meters at the Youth Olympics Wednesday, setting up a much anticipated final between two sprinters touted as the next Usain Bolt. Bolarinwa blew away the field in his heat, finishing in 10.62 seconds. Skeen got out slowly but produced a fast finish to run 10.63 seconds, beating Thailand's Jirapong Meenapra. The 16-year-old Bolarinwa has the fastest time this year among 16- and 17-year-olds – a 10.39 in London earlier this month. Skeen, a 15-year-old whose lanky style has some likening him to his compatriot Bolt, ran a 10.46 in Jamaica. Organizers of the first Youth Olympics have emphasized participation rather than winning, but that was lost on Bolarinwa and Skeen, who both predicted they would win Saturday. “It's a big showdown,” Bolarinwa said. “He's not really a quick starter. We know that already. His pick-up is fantastic and so is mine. If I get a good start, he'll have to take me.” Bolarinwa's coach John Powell chimed in later: “Bring it on.” In other action Wednesday, Lithuania rower Rolandas Mascinskas upset Germany's two-time world junior champion German Felix Bach to win the junior men's single sculls gold. In the women's single sculls, Judith Sievers of Germany beat Nataliia Kovalova of the Ukraine. Britain beat out Australia for the women's pair final to claim its second gold in two days and Slovenia edged Greece in the men's final. In men's 77-kg weightlifting, Russia's Artem Okulov took gold ahead of Thailand's Chatuphum Chinnawong and Russian lifters won another gold and a silver Wednesday. In the swimming, Italy won its first gold of the games after Flavio Bizzarri upset the favorite Australian Nicholas Schafer of Australia in the 200-meter breaststroke. China's Liu Lan won her second gold in the 50 butterfly and third overall, edging Elena di Liddo of Italy by 0.09 seconds. China's Zheng Saisai, meanwhile, continued to play the role of giant-killer in girl's tennis. The unseeded 16-year-old beat third-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4, 6-1 Thursday to set up a final against Russia's Daria Gavrilova. Along with beating Babos, Zheng has beaten second seeded Monica Puig of Puerto Rico and the French Open girls champion Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine. Russia has nine golds and 19 overall, while China has nine golds and 15 medals overall. Azerbaijan is third with five golds, while Italy has four. The United States had only one gold medal by the end of the fourth day of competition Wednesday, settling for silver in girl's swimming, boy's wrestling and boy's fencing.
