Track And Field

Thiam produced one of the standout moments of the European Indoor Championships on 3 March to win her third European indoor title, putting together her best ever indoor series.

She opened by equalling her 8.23 PB in the 60m hurdles and followed it with a 1.92m clearance in the high jump, after which she moved into the lead. An outright shot put PB of 15.54m gave her a comfortable margin at the top of the leaderboard and she followed that with a 6.59m leap in the long jump, putting her on course to break the world record.

Poland’s Adrianna Sulek had also been having the competition of her life and was close to world record pace too heading into the 800m. Sulek dominated that race, crossing the line in 2:07.17, but Thiam also ran well, clocking an indoor PB of 2:13.60 to give her an overall winning tally of 5055. Sulek finished second with 5014.

Thiam’s score added 42 points to the previous world record of 5013, set by Ukraine’s Nataliya Dobrynska on 9 March 2012 at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

Sulek crossed the line before Thiam and so technically scored 5014 – higher than the pre-event world record – six seconds before Thiam finished the competition with 5055. But it is the position of World Athletics that only Thiam’s mark will be ratified.

Eight days after Thiam’s record-breaking feat, Jamaican triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert made history at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on 11 March.

The world U20 champion bounded out to a winning leap of 17.54m in the first round of the men’s triple jump. Not only did he break the collegiate record that had stood since 1986, he also broke the world U20 indoor record of 17.20m – previously set by France’s Melvin Raffin in Belgrade on 3 March 2017 – and the outright world U20 record of 17.50m set by East Germany’s Volker Mai in Erfurt on 23 June 1985.

Two months after winning the NCAA indoor title, Hibbert sailed out to an outdoor PB of 17.87m at the SEC Championships in Baton Rouge. The mark has been submitted for ratification; if approved, that will stand as the outdoor world U20 record, while his 17.54m leap will remain at the world U20 indoor record.

Thompson-Herah’s time was second only to that of Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who clocked 21.98s at the Back to the Track meet in Florida two weeks ago.  Thompson-Herah, who won section three, turned the table on compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who recorded a run of 22.57 to win section two.  MVP’s Anthonique Strachan clocked the third-fastest time after stopping the time at 22.67 behind Thompson-Herah.

On Saturday, it was Fraser-Pryce who stole the show after clocking 10.87 to win section two of the event.  Thompson-Herah won section three of the event, clocked an equally quick 10.88 seconds.

In Sunday’s men’s half-lap event Romario Williams clocked the fastest time of the day, with 20.46, to claim section three.  Sprint Tech’s Rasheed Dwyer’s was second in 20.74, with O’Shane Bailey third with 20.84.

Thompson-Herah blitzed a field that included World Championship silver-medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, to stop the clock at 10.87 seconds.  Although slightly slower than the 10.85 recorded in Rome last week, it maintained an impressive run of form for the sprinter.  The time was the fifth sub-11 mark for the athlete this season.

The Jamaican, whose 10.85 seconds is the fastest time in the world this season, also owns four of the top six times in the world with compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce having the second and third best times.

The athlete, who has been plagued by Achilles issues in recent years, had a fair start before seizing control of the field before the midway point of the race and later pulling clear down the stretch.  Talou was a distant second behind Thompson, stopping the clock at 11.21, with American Kayla White finishing third in 11.25.

In the men’s 200m, Julian Forte ran a season's best 20.39 seconds to place second in the men's 200m.  The race was won by the Ivory Coast’s Arthur Cisse who ran a new national record 20.33 seconds, France's Christophe Lemaitre was third in 20.68 seconds.

Days after claiming her first 100m title at the Games, the Jamaican stormed away from the field to stop the clock at 22.02 a new Games record.  The sprinter got off to a solid start and nearly covered the field by the curve before pulling away down the stretch.

Nigeria’s Favour Ofili was second in 22.51, with Namibia’s Christine Mboma third in 22.80.  The second Jamaican in the race Natalliah Whyte missed out on the medal podium after finishing fourth in 23.06.    

The 5-time Olympic gold medallist ran 7.04 to finish second behind world leader Swoboda who ran 7.03 for victory.

The 24-year-old Polish sprinter now has the three fastest 60m times in the world this year.

In other action, at the World Indoor Tour Gold event, Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas won the Women’s 60m hurdles in a season’s best 7.90 ahead of Finland’s Reetta Hurske with 7.96 and Hungary’s Luca Kozak with 7.97.

Despite the pandemic wreaking havoc upon the international track and field calendar, the Jamaican managed to put together a series of strong performances.  Thompson-Herah ran unbeaten over seven races in which she also set a world-leading 10.85 over the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. She also closed the season with a strong 10.87s in Doha.

Making the final five with Thompson-Herah are Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) Sifan Hassan, Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir, and Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela).  Gidey set a world record of 14:06.62 over 5000m and was second in the 5000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco. Hassan also set a world record in the one hour run as well as a European record of 29:36.67 over 10,000m, the fourth-fastest performance in history.  Jepchirchir won the world half marathon title and twice broke the world half-marathon record, while Rojas was undefeated in four triple jump competitions indoors and outdoors and broke the world indoor triple jump record with 15.43m.

The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live at the World Athletics Awards 2020 to be staged as a virtual event on Saturday 5 December and streamed live on the World Athletics YouTube channel, its Facebook page, and via Twitter.

This follows a poll by the International Sports Press Association, where a panel of 529 journalists from 114 countries voted for the champions of 2021. Joining Thompson-Herah in receiving the top honour is Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski, who has been named the AIPS Best Male Athlete of 2021.

The former Manchester High School student, who was named the World Female Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2021 earlier this month, retained her Olympic 100m and 200m titles in Tokyo and added a third gold medal in the 4x100m relay. She also ran world-leading times of 10.54 and 21.53 over 100m and 200m respectively, moving to second on the world all-time lists for each discipline.

She topped the AIPS poll with 605 points, ahead of Spanish footballer Alexia Putellas (490 points) and Venezuela's world triple jump record-holder and Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas (346 points).

Other athletics stars joining Thompson-Herah and Rojas in the top 10 are Kenya's Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who claimed 5000m and 10,000m titles in Tokyo as well as 1500m bronze.

Joining Lewandowski in the top 10 for the men's award are Norway's Karsten Warholm, who was named the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year, plus his fellow world record-holders and Olympic champions Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.

Thompson-Herah has also been named Athletics Weekly’s Female Athlete of the Year, NACAC Female Athlete of the Year and Diamond League Athletics’ Most Consistent Athlete in women’s sprints for 2021.

Thompson-Herah won four races on the Diamond League circuit for the year, in addition to her three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

She ran times of 10.54 and 10.72 to win the 100m at the Eugene and Paris Diamond League meets on August 21^st and August 28^th, respectively, before winning the event at the Diamond League Final in Zurich in 10.65 on September 9^th.

The former Manchester High School student also finished second in the 100m, at the Lausanne Diamond League, in 10.64 on August 26^th.

Her only 200m win on the Diamond League circuit this year came in Gateshead where she ran 22.43 on July 13^th.

The honour follows the trend of a trophy-filled festive period for the sprinter as she has already been named World Female Athlete of the Year by World Athletics, Athletics Weekly’s Female Athlete of the Year, and the NACAC Female Athlete of the Year in the month of December.

She is also widely favored to be named the RJR Sportswoman of the Year for 2021.

Fresh off an impressive triumph at the Tokyo Games, Thompson-Herah was in no mood to slow down, and in fact, went considerably faster.  The Jamaican pulled away from compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the final metres of the race to stop the clock at 10.54, just .05 second outside of the world record set by the United States' Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.

In almost identical fashion to Tokyo, Fraser-Pryce was second in 10.73, with Shericka Jackson third in 10.76.

Prior to the race, a lot of the attention was focussed on the return of flamboyant United States sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson who missed out on a match-up with the Jamaica trio at the Olympics, after serving a brief suspension for testing positive for marijuana. 

Expectations had been heightened for the sprinter’s return after emphatically winning the US trials before the Games.  In Eugene, however, she was nowhere to be found.  Richardson got away slowly and never got into the race, ending at the back of the field in a pedestrian 11.14.  Thompson-Herah now has the two fastest times outside of the longstanding world record set by Griffith-Joyner.

The Jamaican headed into the final as a heavy favorite and easily lived up to that billing after dominating the event to cross the line in 10.95.  St Lucia’s Julian Alfred continued an excellent season after finishing second to the Jamaican in 11.01.  Great Britain’s Daryl Neita was third in 11.07.  The Bahamas' Tynia Gaither and Jamaica’s Natalliah Whyte were 7^th and 8^th respectively.

The medal was the third for the athlete at the event, but her first individual medal, adding to 4x100m relay gold and silver medals in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

In the men’s equivalent, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala claimed top billing after winning the event in 10.01, ahead of South Africa’s Akani Simbine, the defending champion, who was second in 10.13.  Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon was third in 10.14.  No Caribbean male athlete made the 100m final.  Jamaica’s Kemar Bailey-Cole, who won the event in 2014 finished fourth in the semi-finals.

Lining up alongside Thompson-Herah will be experienced Ivory Coast sprinter Marie Jose Talou, Trinidad and Tobago star Michelle Lee Ahye, and compatriot Natasha Morrison.

Thompson-Herah heads into the event off the back of a dominant performance at the Prefontaine Classic last weekend where she got the better of United States sprinter Sha’arri Richardson, compatriot Shericka Jackson, and Great Britain athlete Dina Asher-Smith.  The Jamaican won the event in 10.79.

Elsewhere, another Jamaican Stephenie Ann Mcpherson will compete in the women’s 400m, while Shanieka Ricketts will compete in the women’s triple jump.

According to an announcement made by organisers last week, Thompson-Herah was expected to clash with compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Marie-Josee Ta over the 100m distance.

However, earlier this week, when the start list was announced the athlete’s name was nowhere to be seen.  It was a similar situation last weekend, where weeks before, many had expected the athlete to make her season debut at the Gateshead Diamond League meet against Richardson and Fraser-Pryce.

The early season, high stakes Gateshead clash was won by Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, prior to the race Richardson had clocked the season’s fastest time with 10.72.  Thompson-Herah is the second-fastest woman in the world this year with her time of 10.78 seconds.

Fraser-Pryce, the Doha 2019 world champion, ran the 100m for the first time in Gateshead, where she finished fourth in 11.51.  Thompson-Herah, who has a best of 10.70, the same as Fraser-Pryce and Richardson (10.72) are three of the fast women in history over the distance having clocked the joint-fourth and sixth fastest times over the distance.

Two weeks ago, it was Fraser-Pryce who beat Thompson-Herah to claim the Jamaica 100m national title.  This time around, Thompson-Herah turned the tables to lead virtually wire to wire to clock a fast 10.71.  The time was a new meeting record and just one 100^th of a second outside of her personal best.

Fraser-Pryce was second in 10.82, with Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou third in 10.86.  Another Caribbean athlete, Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle Lee-Ahye was third in 11.09, her second-best time this season.  Fraser-Pryce owns the fastest time in the world this year, and second-best all-time, after her 10.63 clocking last month.

Elsewhere, Stefanie-Ann McPherson continued her excellent run of form after clocking another sub-50 time to claim the women’s 400m.  Running from lane 4, the Jamaican national champion had all but covered the field by the halfway mark and was comfortable in getting to the line in 49.99.  The United States’ Wadeline Jonathas was second in 50.70, with the Netherlands ’ Lieke Klaver third in 51.29.

In other events, Jamaica’s Fedrick Dacres claimed third spot in the men’s discus after registering a best of 65.08.  The event was won by Sweden’s Daniel Sthal who recorded 67.71.  Lithuania’s Andrius Gudžius was second with a mark of 66.71.

Thompson-Herah crossed the line in section one of the event, in a time of 11.21, well clear of Sprintec’s Remona Mitchell who was second in 11.35.  Thompson-Herah’s MVP teammate Natasha Morrison took third overall after winning section 2 in a time of 11.41.

In the men’s equivalent, former world record holder Asafa Powell was forced to settle for third spot after crossing the line in 10.48.  MVP’s Nigel Stewart took the top spot with a time of 10.39, just ahead of Sprintec’s Rodney Brendon who clocked 10.40.

In the women’s 200m, decorated multiple champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the event after crossing the line in 22.66, winning section 2 ahead of Stephanie McPherson who was second in 22.90.  Section one winner Brianna Lyston was third overall in 23.28.

The men’s equivalent was won by Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes who destroyed the competition after recording 20.14.  Sprintech’s Romario Williams was second in 20.59, with Petersfield Antonio Williams third in 20.70.

In the women’s 400m, first place went to Sprint Tech’s Ronda Whyte, who finished first in 51.28.  Second place went to UWI Mona’s Candice McCleod (51.56) with Roneisha McGregor taking third in 52.06.

Thompson-Herah left the blocks quickly to effortlessly cover the rest of the field by the top of the curve and shut things down to record a 22.75 winning time.  MVP Track Club's Stephanie McPherson chased her to the line late on and was second in 23.16.  Natasha Morrison was third in 23.52.

In the men’s equivalent, Racer’s Track Club’s Zharnel Hughes finished with the fastest time of the day, after recording 20.56 to win heat 4. 

Olympic 100m bronze medalist Shericka Jackson proved a cut above the rest of the field and powered away midway through the race to claim the women’s 100m in 11 seconds flat.  Her MVP Track Club teammate Anthonique Strachan was second in 11.40 and Sprint Tech’s Remona Burchell third in 11.43.

In the men’s equivalent, Oblique Seville took top spot with a time of 10.00.  The Racer’s Track Club athlete finished comfortably ahead of MVP’s Kishane Thompson, who was second in 10.21, and Kadrian Goldson who was third in 10.24.

  Women’s 4x400 Metres

 Cuba and Jamaica both advanced to the final.

The Cuban team of Zurian Hechevarria, Rose Mary Almanza, Sahily Diago and Lisneidy Veitia ran 3:24.04 to finish second in heat 1.

Junelle Bromfield, Roniesha McGregor, Janieve Russell and Stacey Ann Williams formed the Jamaican quartet that finished second in heat 2 to advance with 3:21.95.

The Bahamas quartet of Doneisha Anderson

Megan Moss, Brianne Bethel and Anthonique Strachan also competed in heat 1 but did not finish the race.

 Men’s 400 Metres

The Caribbean secured two more medals in the men’s 400 metres.

Bahamian Steven Gardiner won gold in a time of 43.85 and Grenada’s Kirani James secured bronze in 44.19.

 This is Gardiner’s second straight global gold medal after winning at the 2019 Doha World Championships.

James has now won 400 metres medals at the last three Olympics after winning gold in London in 2012 and silver in Rio 2016.

Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor was also in the final and finished sixth in a new personal best 44.79.

Two Caribbean men advanced to the final. Jamaica’s Ronald Levy advanced after winning semi-final 1 in 13.23.

Levy’s teammate, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Hansle Parchment, also advanced to the final after finishing second in semi-final 3 in 13.23.

Jamaica’s third participant in the semis, Damion Thomas, narrowly missed out on a place in the final after finishing third in semi-final 2 in 13.39.

Shane Brathwaite of Barbados and Eddie Lovett were the other Caribbean competitors in the discipline but both men failed to progress from the heats. 

Men’s 200 Metres

Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer and Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards will both contest the final.

Dwyer advanced by finishing second in semi-final 1 in a time of 20.13, while Richards finished third in semi-final 2 with 20.10 to advance as one of the two fastest losers.

Women’s 800 Metres

Jamaica’s Natoya Goule was the Caribbean’s lone competitor in the final.

Goule attempted to go with the early pace set by outstanding American teenager Athing Mu and unfortunately faded towards the end of the race, eventually finishing eighth in 1:58.26.

The race was won by Mu in an American record of 1:55.21 and she was followed by Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, also only 19 years old, who ran a British record 1:55.88 for silver and American Raevyn Rodgers who ran a personal best 1:56.81 for bronze.

Women’s 200 Metres

Elaine Thompson-Herah created history by becoming the second person to win the 100-200 double at back-to-back Olympics, the first being the great Usain Bolt who did it at three straight games from 2008-2016.

She crossed the line first in a new personal best of 21.53 to become the second-fastest woman of all time over the distance.

Namibian Christine Mboma won silver in a world junior record of 21.81 and American Gabby Thomas won bronze in 21.87.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran 21.94 to finish fourth and Shaunae Miller-Uibo, evidently saving her legs for the 400 metres, jogged home to finish 8^th in 24.00.

Men’s Javelin

No Caribbean men advanced to the final.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a 2019 World Championship gold medalist, finished 15^th in qualifying with a best distance of 80.42.

Trinidadian 2012 Olympic Champion, Keshorn Walcott, finished 16^th in qualifying with 79.33.

Walcott was aiming to win javelin medals at three straight Olympics after winning gold in London in 2012 and bronze in Rio in 2016.

Women’s 400 Metres Hurdles

The running theme of spectacular 400-metre hurdling at the Tokyo Olympics continued as the women’s equivalent also saw a new world record being established.

American Sydney McLaughlin won gold in a new world record of 51.46, breaking her own previous world record of 51.90 which she set at the US trials.

Her teammate Dalilah Muhammad, the defending champion in the event, finished second in 51.58, a new personal best.

Dutch rising star Femke Bol won bronze by setting a new European record 52.03.

Jamaica’s Janieve Russell finished a distant fourth but came away with an outstanding new personal best of 53.03 in the process.

 Five Caribbean women advanced to the final.

Marileidy Paulino of The Dominican Republic won semi-final 1 in a national record of 49.38 to advance.

Jamaica’s Candice McLeod and Cuba’s Roxana Gomez also progressed from semi-final 1.

McLeod ran a personal best of 49.51 to finish second and advance automatically while Gomez finished third in a personal best 49.71 and advanced in a fastest loser spot.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo advanced by running 49.60 to win the second semi-final.

Jamaica’s Roniesha McGregor and Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams were also in semi-final 2 but failed to advance, finishing third in 50.34 and seventh in 51.46 respectively.

Stephenie Ann McPherson won semi-final 3 in a personal best 49.34 to qualify.

Sada Williams finished third in that race in a national record of 50.11 but that wasn’t enough to get her into the final.

Men’s 200 Metres

 Canadian Andre DeGrasse ran a Canadian record 19.62 to take gold.

DeGrasse, silver medalist behind Usain Bolt at the 2016 Rio games, will be joined on the podium by Americans Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles.

Bednarek ran a personal best 19.68 for silver and Lyles ran a season’s best 19.74 for bronze.

Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer finished 7^th in 20.21 and Jereem Richards of Trinidad & Tobago finished 8^th in 20.39.

Women’s High Jump

 St. Lucian Levern Spencer finished 22^nd in qualifying.

Women’s 4x100 Metres Relay

 The Jamaican team consisting of Briana Williams, Natasha Morrison, Remona Burchell and Shericka Jackson ran 42.15 to finish third in heat 1 and advance to the final.

Men’s 4x100 Metres Relay

 Jamaica qualified for the final after running the fastest time in the heats.

The team of Jevaughn Minzie, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville ran a time of 37.82 to win heat 1.

Trinidad & Tobago were also in heat 1 and finished 6^th with a time of 38.63.

Their team consisted of Kion Benjamin, Eric Harrison, Akanni Hislop and Richard Thompson, silver medalist from the 2008 Beijing games.

Men’s 110 Metres Hurdles

 Jamaica secured two medals in the final of the men’s 110 metres hurdles.

Hansle Parchment, a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, ran a season’s best of 13.04 to win gold ahead of the prohibitive favourite, Grant Holloway of the USA, who took silver in 13.09.

 Ronald Levy ran 13.10 for bronze, his first Olympic medal.

Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago both advanced to the final.

The Trinidadian team consisting of Deon Lendore, Jereem Richards, Machel Cedenio and Dwight St. Hillaire ran a season’s best of 2:58.60 to finish 3^rd in heat 1 and progress.

Jamaica fielded a team of Demish Gaye, Jaheel Hyde, Karayme Bartley and Nathon Allen to finish 2^nd in heat 2 with a season’s best time of 2:59.29 to advance.

Women’s 400 Metres

The Caribbean secured two medals in the women’s 400 metres.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas successfully defended her title from the 2016 Games by winning gold in a personal best 48.36, the 6^th fastest time ever in the event.

She was followed by Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic who took silver in a national record 49.20.

Allyson Felix of the USA became the most decorated female track athlete in Olympic history by finishing 3^rd and securing her 10^th Olympic medal, one more than Jamaican legend Merlene Ottey.

Jamaicans Stephenie-Ann McPherson and Candice McLeod finished 4^th and 5^th in 49.61 and 49.87 respectively.

Cuba’s Roxana Gomez started the final but unfortunately failed to finish, pulling up injured about 100 metres into the race.

Women’s 4x100 Metres

The Jamaican quartet of Briana Williams, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson celebrated Jamaica’s Independence Day by running a national record of 41.02 to secure the gold medal.

This marks Jamaica’s first time winning Olympic gold in women’s 4x100 metres relay since Athens 2004.

Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini and Gabby Thomas combined to run 41.45 to secure the silver medal for the USA, while Great Britain with Asha Phillip, Imani Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita ran 41.88 for bronze.

Men’s 4x100 Metres

Jamaica finished 5^th in the final of the men’s 4x100 metres relay.

Jevaughn Minzie, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville combined to run 37.84 to finish behind Italy, Great Britain, Canada and China.

The Italian team of Lorenzo Patta, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Fostine Desalu and Filippo Tortu ran a national record 37.50 to secure gold and continue the country’s impressive track & field showing in Tokyo.

The British team comprising of CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 37.51 to finish just behind the Italians in 2^nd.

Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse combined to run 37.70 and secure the bronze for Canada.

The other regional athletes in competition, Jamaicans Chanice Porter and Tissanna Hickling finished 24th and 25th respectively in qualifying with distances of 6.22 and 6.19.

Elsewhere, Trinidad & Tobago’s Portious Warren could not manage to get among the medals after finishing 10th in the final of the women’s shot put.

Men's 400m 

Nine Caribbean men advanced to the next round of the men’s 400 metres.  Heat 1 of the event saw Grenada’s 2012 Olympic Champion, Kirani James, finish second in 45.09 to advance.

Demish Gaye of Jamaica and Alonzo Russell of the Bahamas also advanced to the semi-finals from heat 1 as two of the six fastest losers, after finishing 4th and 5th in 45.49 and 45.51 respectively.

The third heat also saw three Caribbean men advance to the semi-finals as Jonathan Jones of Barbados, Christopher Taylor of Jamaica and Dwight St. Hillaire of Trinidad & Tobago all made it through.

Jones and Taylor finished second and third with times of 45.04 and 45.20 to advance automatically and St. Hillaire finished fourth in 45.41 to advance as a fastest loser.

Steven Gardiner, the reigning world champion, easily won heat 5 in 45.05 to advance to the semi-finals.

Trinidadian Deon Lendore also advanced from heat 5 after finishing second behind Gardiner in 45.14.

Jamaica’s Nathon Allen was also in heat 5 but failed to advance after finishing fourth in 46.12.

Machel Cedenio, the Trinidadian who narrowly missed out on a medal five years ago in Rio, also advanced to the semi-finals after finishing third in the 6th and final heat in 45.56.

Men's Lomg Jump

Earlier, Tajay Gayle qualified for the final of the men’s long jump, despite picking up an apparent left knee injury.

The Jamaican fouled his first attempt and picked up the injury while jumping 6.72 in his second attempt.  He jumped out to 8.14 in his third, with heavy strapping around his left knee.

Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba had the longest jump in qualifying after leaping out to 8.50 in his first attempt.

The men’s long jump final will get underway at 8:20pm today.

Natoya Goule won her semi-final to advance to the final of the women’s 800 metres.

Goule took the lead early and never looked back, running 1:59.57 to get to her first Olympic final.

Jamaica’s Chad Wright, in the meantime, finished ninth in the men’s discus final with a throw of 62.56.

Elsewhere, the Dominican Republic mixed 4x400m team of Andres Feliz, Marileidy Paulino, Anabel Medina, and Alexander Ogando ran 3:10.21 to finish second in the final and secure the silver medal.

Sean Bailey, Stacy Ann-Williams, Tovea Jenkins, and Karayme Bartley ran for Jamaica and finished 7th in 3:14.95.