Jamaica’s De’Jour Russell has positioned himself as the man to beat in the 110 Hurdles (99.0cm) final after racing to a World U-20 Lead and lifetime best of 13.20s in Heat 3 to top the overall standings in the event after the semis on Wednesday.
The 16-year old remained unfazed by the drama that preceded the race after two false starts, with South Africa’s Thabo Maganyele eventually being disqualified for the violation.
Following the Russell’s scorching time, it was no surprise that the Top 4 athletes in the race made it to the final. As such, he will be joined from his heat by Amere Lattin (13.39s), Michael Nicholls (13.42s, PB) and homeboy Dawid Žebrowski (13.53s).
Unfortunately, Nigeria’s Bashiru Abdullahi finished 5th in the race and missed booking a spot in the final despite setting a National U-20 Record and Personal Best (PB) of 13.58s.
Only the Top 2 athletes in the preceding heats automatically advanced to the next stage of the competition. Japan’s Takumu Furuya (13.41s) and Matthew Treston of Great Britain (13.70s) made it through from Heat 1, while Marcus Krah of the USA (13.36s) and Great Britain’s James Weaver (13.40s) progressed from Heat 2.
