Justin Gatlin takes cue from Bernard Lagat, then takes off

Waiting for the start of the 200-meter dash final Saturday at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Justin Gatlin was inspired by 41-year-old Bernard Lagat’s intrepid performance and blazingly fast last lap in winning the previous event, the 5,000, and earning a fifth Olympic berth. “I was like, ‘Man, I’m in Lane 8. I’ve never ran Lane 8 before but if the guy has the guts to go out there and do what he just did at his age, I can go out there and do what I need to do, especially from Lane 8,’” Gatlin said.

He did that, and more. Gatlin, who last week won the 100-meter title, won the 200 in 19.75 seconds, ahead of trials 400-meter champion LaShawn Merritt (19.79) and Ameer Webb (20.00), who attended Tustin High and Cerritos College.

Afterward, Gatlin tried to pay forward the inspiration he got from Lagat, urging a record crowd of 22,847 to remember the goodwill they’ve experienced here and carry that spirit beyond the walls of Hayward Field.

“There’s a lot been going on in America the last couple days. It’s sad that it happened around the Fourth of July when we should all be proud to be Americans,” Gatlin said, referring to the shooting in which five Dallas police officers were killed.

“I challenged them. I said, ‘Love someone. Leave the stadium, because there’s so much love in the stadium the last couple days, take that love with you and just give it to somebody you never loved before. And go up to them and say, ‘I love you and I love being an American.’ We need that as Americans. I want everybody to understand that when we go down to Rio representing the United States of America we want to represent pride. It’s just so sad to see everything that’s happening right now. I just want everybody to be happy.”

Gatlin, running only his third 200 this season, was powerful in a fast field. Fourth-place finisher Noah Lyles, 18, was timed in 20.09, the best time ever by a high-school runner. USC commit Michael Norman, wearing his Vista Murrieta High singlet for the last time, was fifth in 20.14. “I had a lot of fun these past three days. It was a good experience for me,” Norman said. “Honestly, my body has been telling me I’m getting pretty tired these last couple rounds. I woke up this morning a little tighter than normal.”

Norman was 2 years old when Lagat, then representing Kenya, won his first Olympic medal, a bronze in the 1,500 at the 2000 Sydney Games. Lagat won a silver in the 1,500 at Athens in 2004 and became an American citizen in time to represent the U.S. in 2008 and 2012. He was fourth in the 5,000 in London.

Lagat had planned to make this his final season on the track before turning to road racing, and his Rio Olympic chances looked bleak after he dropped out of the 10,000 and trailed late in Saturday’s race. “At that point, in my head, I was just counting numbers. One, two, three, five people ahead of me,” he said. “I thought, ‘This is it. It’s now or it’s not going to happen.’” He ran a 52.82-second last lap and won in 13 minutes 35.50 seconds, with Hassan Mead second (13:35.70) and Paul Chelimo third (13:35.92). Lagat and Mead had both started the 10,000 but dropped out.

Aries Merritt, who received a kidney transplant last September, finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles and won’t defend his Olympic title. “The replay looked like I was second or third. When I saw I was fourth, I was shocked,” he said. After initially saying he would file a protest he did not do so, according to a spokesperson for USA Track and Field. Oregon wide receiver Devon Allen won in a personal-best 13.03 seconds, ahead of Ronnie Ash (13.205), Jeff Porter (13.206) and Merritt (13.22).

Allyson Felix of Los Angeles advanced to the final of the women’s 200 with a semifinal time of 22.57, third-fastest behind Tori Bowie’s 22.27 and Deajah Stevens’ 22.45. “I wasn’t as sharp as I would like to be, but I’m moving on,” Felix said. Running the curve was “not good . . . that’s an area that we just haven’t had the luxury of working on” because of a lingering right ankle injury.

Barbara Nwaba of Los Angeles and the Santa Barbara Track club led the heptathlon with 3,903 points after four events. Sharon Day-Monroe of Costa Mesa, who trains at UCLA, was fourth with 3,813 points after struggling in the high jump, the event in which she earned her first Olympic berth in 2008. She finished 16th in the heptathlon in London. “It went OK. Not as good as I would have liked but definitely a solid day,” she said.

Christian Taylor and Will Claye, who were 1-2 in the triple jump at the 2012 Games, reversed that order Saturday to clinch Rio berths. Claye leaped 57 feet 11 inches, followed by Taylor ( 57-0¾) and Chris Benard of Corona ( 56-5¾).

Women’s javelin throw runnerup Hannah Carson didn’t meet the Olympic qualifying standard of 62 meters (203 feet 5 inches), so fourth-place finisher Brittany Borman will join Maggie Malone (60.84, 199-7) and third-place finisher Kara Winger (57.90, 189-11) in Rio.

See the most-read stories in Sports this hour »

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen