World 100- and 200-meter record-holder Usain Bolt competed in his first 200-meter race in 20 months Saturday, posting an easy victory with a time of 20.20 seconds on home soil in Jamaica.
Bolt raced unchallenged off the curve at the UTech Classic event in Kingston and cruised down the homestretch for the win over Olympic teammate Nesta Carter, who finished second in 20.60.
Bolt was disappointed he failed to run under 20 seconds — his world record is 19.19 seconds — and said he would have to look at the video to see how he can gain more speed.
“It wasn’t the perfect race so I will have to go back and look to see what to improve on,” said Bolt of his first 200m since winning the final at the 2013 Moscow World Championships.
“It didn’t feel as smooth as I am used to, but I just need to run more races to get race sharp.”
Bolt’s next race is a 100m in Rio on April 19, as he gears up for the Beijing World Championships later this year.
He will also compete in the New York Diamond League meet on June 13, his first race in the Big Apple since 2008.
Bolt set his first world record in winning the 100m in 9.72 seconds in 2008 and since then has won six Olympic gold medals, eight world championship titles and smashed world records several times over.
The 28-year-old Bolt missed the majority of last year with injuries, which allowed American Justin Gatlin to dominate the men’s sprint events.
To get ready for the Worlds, which take place August 22-30, Bolt plans to race in Paris on July 4 and Lausanne five days later.
Also on Saturday, Elaine Thompson ran the best time of the year so far in the women’s 100m, clocking 10.92 seconds.