KINGSTON, Jamaica – After being left in the blocks in the first round of the men’s 100m on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, and placing third, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville has been drawn in lane eight in his semi-final race set to start just before 7:00am Sunday, Jamaica time.
All three Jamaicans, including national champion and world leader Kishane Thompson and former World Indoor 60m bronze medallist Ackeem Blake, remained on course to qualify for the final set for 8:20am.
The first two in each of the three semi-finals will automatically qualify for the final along with the next two fastest runners on time.
Despite his slow start, Seville, who is seeking to make a third straight World Championships final after being fourth in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022 and Budapest, Hungary, in 2023, was the fastest Jamaican with 9.93 seconds (0.3 m/s) and third fastest overall in the first round.
He will line up in the third semi-final, where it is expected his main rivals will be Olympic Games 200m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and former Olympic Games 200m gold medallist Andre De Grasse of Canada.
Thompson, who won his first-round race in 9.95 seconds (0.1 m/s), will run in the second semi-final, where he will line up against Jamaican-based British champion Zharnel Hughes and American champion Kenny Bednarek, a dark horse for a medal in some circles.
Ackeem Blake, who was second in his first-round heat in 10.07 seconds (-1.1 m/s), will meet American defending champion Noah Lyles for the second straight round and will also go up against South Africa’s Akani Simbine, Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu and Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi.
– Paul Reid