BARELY 12 hours after celebrating gold in the 100m final, Elaine Thompson Herah returned to the track to comfortably ease through the heats of the 200m.
Jamaica’s Commonwealth sprint queen clocked a commanding 22.80 seconds – the second fastest of any of the heat winners behind Nigeria’s Favour Ofili – to safely make this afternoon’s semi-finals, starting at 2.15 p.m. Jamaican time 1.15 p.m ECT
Natalliah Whyte, who also contested the previous evening’s 100m final, won her qualifier by another comfortable margin in 23.61, then commented: “Elaine and I got back in very late, but it is what it is with these championships, and you have to make sure that you are mentally prepared.
“I ran through the 100 (metre mark) and then tried to conserve as much energy as possible while making sure I qualified.
“Elaine, Shelly, and Shericka are all our inspiration with the times that they run and drive us on to be better.
“Shelly is here (but not competing), and I’ve seen her back on the warm-up track.
In the men’s event, Jamaican debutant Kadrian Goldson had no difficulty qualifying second in his heat in a time of 21.19, explaining: “It’s my first time with the international team, so I’m happy to get my first race out of the way.
“The weather (which dipped dramatically overnight) was a bit cold as I’ve flown in straight from Jamaica.”
National record holder Lamara Distin failed the first attempt at her opening height of 1:81 but safely negotiated it the second time to progress to Saturday’s high jump final.
Compatriot and former Pan-American Games Champion Kimberley Williamson was another of the 12 qualifiers for Saturday morning’s medal shoot-out, starting at 4.17 a.m. Jamaica time.