PARIS, France — All three Jamaican women sprinters successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the 100m event at the Paris Olympics, after finishing second in their respective heats during Friday’s morning session at the Stade de France.
Leading the charge was veteran Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who clocked 10.92 seconds (+0.8mps), finishing behind her close friend, Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Ivory Coast, who posted 10.87 seconds in the eighth and final heat. Tia Clayton also secured a spot in the semi-finals, finishing second in her heat with a time of 11.00 seconds (+1.2mps), behind Canada’s Audrey Leduc, who set a national record of 10.95 seconds.
Shashalee Forbes, stepping in for Shericka Jackson, finished with a time of 11.19 seconds (-0.4mps), narrowly beaten by American Twanisha Terry who clocked 11.15 seconds.
Other notable performances
Other notable performances included American race favorite Sha’Carri Richardson, who won her heat in 10.95 seconds (+0.1mps), and St Lucia’s Julien Alfred, who also finished her heat in 10.95 seconds (-0.8mps). Trinidad and Tobago’s Leah Bertrand progressed to the semi-finals, placing third in her heat with a time of 11.27 seconds.
However, several Caribbean athletes did not advance. Barbados’ Tristan Evelyn ran 11.55 seconds for sixth place in her heat; Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago finished fourth in her heat with 11.33 seconds, just ahead of Cuba’s Yunisleidy Garcia Abreu, who clocked 11.37 seconds.
St Kitts and Nevis’ Zahria Allers-Liburd posted 11.89 seconds for eighth place in her heat, Grenada’s Halle Hazzard finished eighth in her heat with 11.79 seconds, and Antigua and Barbuda’s Joella Lloyd ran 11.37 seconds for seventh place in her heat, all insufficient to advance.
Saturday’s semi-finals
The semi-finals, scheduled for Saturday evening, will see Forbes in lane 3 of heat one, competing against Ta Lou-Smith, the US’s Melissa Jefferson, and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith. Fraser-Pryce will face Alfred and Richardson in the second heat, while Clayton will compete in the third heat against Darull Neita of Great Britain, Leduc, Terry, and Bertrand.
The top two from each semi-final will advance to the final along with the two fastest losers.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s national high jump record holder Lamara Distin had a disappointing outing, failing to advance after clearing only 1.88m, well below her personal best of 2.00m. Distin, a decorated athlete with titles including Commonwealth Games and NACAC U23 champion, finished 11th out of 14 in Group B, despite being ranked eighth in the world.
This comes alongside the elimination of swimmer Josh Kirlew in the men’s 100m butterfly event, where he clocked 54.66 seconds for fifth place in his heat, placing joint 36th overall out of 40 competitors.
