Steven Gardiner produced the best performance of the men’s 400m semifinals, racing to a Bahamian Record to win Heat 1 with an astonishing time of 43.89s at the ongoing London 2017 World Championships.
The manner in which Gardiner executed the race was flawless, seeing as the 21-year old quickly closed in on his fellow competitors and stormed past Fred Kerley, and even the recovering Nathon Allen could not stop him from securing the win.
Allen finished 2nd behind Gardiner, running a Personal Best (PB) of 44.19s, while Kerley who was 3rd with 44.51s also goes through to the final as one of the fastest losers.
Meanwhile, in Heat 2 of the 400m semis, defending champion Wayde Van Niekerk was made to work hard for his win. He lost sight of Botswana’s Babaloki Thebe who overtook him as they approached the last bend, but he pedalled in the last 80m as both eased through to the finish.
Although winning in 44.22s, the Olympic champion looked vulnerable going into the final, with Thebe clocking 44.33s and ruffling Van Niekerk who will look to come back in the final with a much better display. Abdalelah Haroun secured the other fastest losers spot, finishing 3rd in that heat with a Season’s Best (SB) of 44.64s.
In Heat 3, Isaac Makwala continued to strengthen his medal prospects with a cool finish of 44.30s to win the race. To think that Makwala even jogged through the last 80m when comfortably in the lead, makes him a huge medal contender. Jamaica’s Demish Gaye ran a PB of 44.55s to finish 2nd.
One of the biggest shocks of the day came in Heat 2 where 2015 Silver medallist, LaShawn Merritt finished 7th in 45.52s and failed to make the final. In fact, Kerley is the only American to have qualified for the final taking place on Tuesday.
In men’s 110m Hurdles, Olympic champion Omar McLeod looks the sure bet to win GOLD after coming through the barriers to his semifinal heat in 13.10s, while Orlando Ortega was 2nd in 13.15s.
Balazs Baji was another impressive winner, holding off World Record holder Aries Merrit to win heat 3 clocking a time of 13.23s. While heat 2 produced the best thrill after four athletes looked to have crossed the line at the same time, but Shane Braithwaite got the win with an SB of 13.26s
Men’s 800m is looking nicely shaped for Nijel Amos to win after working hard to when he was boxed in, making his way out to finish 2nd in 1:46.29 and qualifying for the final with Adam Kszczot winning the race in 1:46.24.
Despite showing much promise before coming to the competition, World Leader Emmanuel Korir could not qualify from his heat won by Canada’s Brandon McBride in 1:45.53.
