Trinidad and Tobago hurdlers Omari Brown and quartermiler Zachery Frank sped into the semifinals of their respective events Thursday (August 6) at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States.
Brown, competing in the men's 400-metre hurdles, displayed great composure, saving enough energy to run the fastest final 100m split in the entire heat by a wide margin. Running in lane one, he comfortably crossed the line in 51.50 seconds to advance from the opening round after placing third in heat four of eight. The local hurdler secured his spot in the semifinals along with fellow automatic qualifiers: heat winner Jahvanie K. Tyrell of Jamaica (51.02) and second-placed Marek Vana of the Czech Republic (51.27).
Brown got off to a relatively slow start out of the blocks compared to the rest of the field, sitting near the back of the pack in sixth as Tyrell led the field in 12.14 seconds. Brown picked up his pace slightly during the second 100m segment; while he moved up one spot into fifth, he was still over a second behind the leader at the halfway mark. The T&T hurdler held steady in fifth place through the next turn. Although his position didn't change at the 300m mark, he put himself within striking distance of the automatic qualification spots.
This is where Brown made his move. While the athletes ahead of him slowed down significantly on the final straightaway, Brown accelerated, dropping his interval time to 13.21 seconds. He made up roughly a full second on the leaders in the final 100m alone, storming past Shavindu Nimasha Maha and Tommaso Ardizzone to snatch the final automatic qualification spot. Brown will return to the track Saturday (August 8) to face the starter in the third and final semifinal heat. Entering the race with a personal and season's best time of 50.91, he will run in lane three.
T&T had mixed results in the opening round of the men's 400m at Oregon 26. Frank delivered a strong performance, placing third in heat one with a time of 46.61 seconds. His top-three finish earned him automatic qualification for the semifinals, ranking him 16th overall. Conversely, Kiile Alexander struggled in heat six, finishing eighth with a time of 48.99. He placed 53rd overall and failed to advance. Frank was scheduled to face the starter in lane nine of the first semifinal last night.
T&T's women quartermilers, Kayla Charles and Kyah Hyson, failed to progress out of round one in the one-lap event. Charles finished 46th overall, placing seventh in heat five with a time of 55.89. Compatriot Hyson finished 56th overall, placing ninth in heat seven in 57.58. Neither athlete met the qualification criteria required to progress.
Meanwhile, Kristiano Perez finished 14th in Group A of the men's triple jump qualification. He fouled his initial jump, recorded his best performance of 15.02m on his second attempt, and fouled his final jump, missing out on the final.
On Wednesday night in the women's 100m semifinals, T&T’s sprinting duo of Alexxe Henry and Imani Mills also fell short of the final. Competing in heat two, Henry finished eighth with a time of 11.61 to place 19th overall. Meanwhile, Mills clocked 11.67 to also finish eighth in heat one, ranking 24th overall.
Friday (August 7), another T&T hurdler will be in action. Jenna-Marie Thomas lines up in round one of the women's 100m hurdles, competing out of lane seven in the seventh and final heat.
Mills will be back at Hayward Field to challenge the women's 200m alongside Kaori Robley. Robley will be up first in lane two of heat six, while Mills will feature in lane five of heat seven. Makaelan Woods will be the lone Trinidadian sprinter tackling the men's 200m, running in lane two of the second heat.
The quartet will be aiming to reach the semifinal rounds in today's evening session, which starts at 8 pm (T&T time).
