Day five’s programme began with the Heats of the Women’s 400m Hurdles. The event saw all three Jamaican athletes advancing to the Semifinals, as Janieve Russell won Heat two in 54.52s, Shiann Salmon placed second in Heat four with 54.91s and Rushell Clayton, 54.99s, placed fourth in Heat five. The ‘Big Three’ of Sydney McLaughlin, Femke Bol and Dalilah Muhammad also qualified comfortably for the Semifinals.
The Women’s High Jump was quite historical for Jamaica as it was the first time that two Jamaican women made the World Championship Final. The event was quite competitive for the Jamaican representatives however, as National Record Holder Lamara Distin with her 1.93m clearance and National Champion Kimberly Williamson’s 1.89m clearance could only manage ninth and eleventh, respectively of the twelve competitors.
The Women’s 200m Semifinals proved to be the most competitive in World Championship history as five of the eight athletes had to run under 22s to qualify for the Final. National Champion Shericka Jackson led the qualifiers by winning her Semifinal in an astonishing yet effortless 21.67s while Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also ran her fastest time at a major championship, clocking 21.82s to advance to the Final. Double Olympic Champion Elaine Thompson-Herah advanced to the Final based on time, as she placed third in her semifinal with a Season’s Best of 21.97s. The final promises to be one for the history books as Dina Asher-Smith and Tamara Clark both ran under 22s to advance to the Final as well.
The Men’s Discus Final saw Fedrick Dacres and Traves Smikle finishing ninth and twelfth of the twelve competitors, as they threw 64.84m and 62.23m respectively.
The Men’s 200m Semi Finals were quite disappointing for Jamaican fans as Yohan Blake had to withdraw due to injury and Rasheed Dwyer’s 20.87s saw him finish eighth in his Semifinal. That means no Jamaican will contest the final of the event. However, the biggest shocker of the afternoon session came when 100m champion, Fred Kerley did not advance to the Final, running 20.68s as he placed sixth with an apparent injury in his Semifinal. Reigning World Champion, Noah Lyles qualified for the final easily with a time of 19.62s, but it will not be as easy for him to retain his title as his countryman Erriyon Knighton and Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando ran well below 20s with 19.77s and 19.91s to win their Semifinals.
The Men’s 400mh Final ended the night as Brazil’s Alison dos Santos continued his dominance in the event by winning in a Championship Record time of 46.29s while Olympic silver medalist America’s Rai Benjamin ran a Season’s Best of 46.89s for second and his teammate, World Indoor 400m silver medalist Trevor Bassitt earned bronze with a massive Personal Best 47.39s. Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde finished sixth with a new Personal Best 48.03s to become the third fastest Jamaican man in the event. World Record Holder, Norway’s Karsten Warholm placed seventh with 48.52s.
Day six promises to be another action packed one as Navasky Anderson is slated to compete in Heat three of the Men’s 800m, while Janieve Russell, Rushell Clayton and Shiann Salmon are all set to compete in Semifinal one, two and three respectively of the Women’s 400m Hurdles. The Women’s 400m will see Candice McLeod, Stephenie Ann McPherson and Charokee Young compete in Semifinals one, two and three. Christopher Taylor and Nathon Allen are all scheduled to compete in Semifinal One and Two of the Men’s 400m.
– Kemal Forde