By BRENT STUBBS 

Chief Sports Editor 

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

PARIS, France — After his disappointment in his Olympic Games debut in the men’s 100 metres, Wanya McCoy said he was eager to come back and turn things around in his specialty in the 200 metres. McCoy, 21, was eliminated along with Grand Bahamian Terrence Jones in the first round of the 100m.

But he came back last night at the Stade de France and booked his ticket to the semifinals of the half-lap race.

Running out of lane nine in the second of six heats, McCoy was able to secure a second-place finish in 20.35 seconds to automatically move on to the semis with heat winner Tarsis Gracious Orogot of Uganda in 20.32 and third place finisher Renan Correa of Brazil in 20.41.

It wasn’t as successful for Ian Kerr, the other Bahamian competing in the event. He will have to come back today in a repechage to determine if he will also move on.

McCoy, on the other hand, was thrilled to get back on the track to make up for his 100m departure where he was 41st overall in 10.24, compared to Jones’ 10.31 for 49th place. “It didn’t go the way I planned with this being my first experience at the Olympics,” said McCoy, a member of the Florida Gators’ university team, about his 100m. “I have a lot to learn with the 100m, especially with my start, so next year (at the World Championships) I’m sure I will do a better job.”

As for his 200m, McCoy said he just wanted to advance and be able to run faster when the semis come around on Wednesday.

“I just want to get a good lane and hopefully set myself up to get a medal,” he predicted. “I have a lot more in the tank. This is my first 200m in two months, so it was good to get the rust off. I’m sure when the semi-finals come, I will be good to go.”

Kerr into repechage

In making his global debut, Kerr also drew lane nine in heat five where he finished fifth in 20.53 as he watched American Erriyon Knighton pull away for the win in 19.99.

“I just wanted to stay composed, stay relaxed and execute,” said Kerr about his race. “I didn’t execute it to the best of my ability.”

As one of the newcomers on the international scene for Team Bahamas, the 28-year-old Kerr said he knew it was just of time that his belief would enable him to prevail to be competing here.

“I believe that I deserve to be here, so it was just a matter of me focusing on myself and going out there and attacking the race.”

With two Bahamians entered in the 100m and now two in the 200m, Kerr said the Bahamas male sprint core is starting to retake shape and he’s just delighted to be a part of the transformation right now.

Hopefully, he can take his confidence level to the semifinal with McCoy. He will have to no doubt run faster than his lifetime best of 20.33 in order to achieve his goal.