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Impatient Johnson can't wait for gold
SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) - An impatient Michael Johnson moved closer to retaining his 400m Olympic title with an easy opening first round win here on Friday. The 33-year-old hardly broke into a sweat as he cantered home. "It was just a try out," he said afterwards. But Johnson admitted he would rather just go into the final rather than waste time going through the heats. "It is annoying there are so many rounds. I wish we could just go out and get it on," he complained. One of the men he is expected to meet in the final, fellow American Antonio Pettigrew, had to shrug off two false starts in his opening heat. "Two false starts is just stupid but I kept my head down and kept focused. I am determined that noone or nothing is going to distract me," said Pettigrew. "I'm really looking forward to meeting Michael in the final," he added. Brazilian Sanderlei Parrela won his opening round heat only three days after athletics' world governing body lifted a two-year drugs suspension. Parrela had tested positive for nandrolone at the Rio de Janeiro grand prix last June but the IAAF decided earlier this week to lift the ban because of doubts over the test. "To tell you the truth I am still a bit surprised to be running here. I did not think I would be competing in the Olympics," said Parrela, the silver medallist at the Seville World Championships, after his race.
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