Three Jamaicans advance to 100m semis
LIMA, Peru— Three of four Jamaican sprinters advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s and women’s 100m on Tuesday’s first day of the World Athletics Under-20 Championships at Estadio Atletico de la Videna in Lima, Peru.
Deandre Daley- 11.37 seconds (-0.4m/s) and Gary Card -11.40 seconds (0.5m/s), both won their first-round heats in the men’s section after Alana Reid- 11.46 seconds (-0.6m/s) had won her heat in the women’s race.
There was, however, disappointment for Theianna-Lee Terrelonge who failed to get past the opening round after placing fourth in her race in 12.03 seconds (-0.6m/s).
Terrelonge had very little to say to the media afterwards, as she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders in response to questions.
Reid, who came into the championships ranked number one in the women’s Under-20 in the world, was confident of her chances, “I know that I have great things in store planned for myself and I just want to stay focussed for the semi-finals.”
Despite the chilly conditions, Reid said, “I’m feeling good. It’s a bit chilly out here, but I don’t think about it, I have the semi-finals this afternoon to refocus and come back better.”
Card looked easy in his race, telling the Observer Online, “I wouldn’t say it was easy but I felt very relaxed,” and said his training in Europe after the national trials helped him to get ready for the competition.
Daley said his race was “pretty easy, the goal was also to come out here and get to the next round.”
He said he had a little bit of work to do on his execution, “the start could get a little better, but in terms of getting out of the drive phase, into the transition phase was really excellent, in my eyes.”
Meanwhile, Rohanna Sudlow failed to get past the first round of the women’s long jump, finishing 14th overall with a best of 5.94m (-1.5m/s), missing the final by two spots and two centimetres.
-Paul A Reid