Kirani James who has only done six races in three years returned to the World Championships in Doha, going through from the heats to the semifinals as the fastest qualifier for all the heats.
The Grenadian who controlled the race from an inside lane posted a time of 44.94s for the win ahead of Japanese athlete, Julian Walsh who dropped a Personal Best (PB) of 45.14s and Vernon Norwood taking the last automatic spot in 45.59s
Michael Norman brushed off the challenge posed by Jamaica’s Demish Gaye as he came through to win the fourth heat in 45.00s. Gaye who was just nipped on the line, finished 2nd in 45.02s while Botswana’s Leungo Scotch ran a new Personal Best of 45.10s to earn a spot in the semifinals.
US Champion, Fred Kerley controlled the third heat for the largest part of the race but Italian David Re just kicked past him in the closing few meters to win in 45.08s, ahead of Kerley who eased off in 45.19s, while Bahrain’s Abbas Abubakar came in 3rd in 45.47s.
800m specialist, Emmanuel Korir won heat 6 in 45.08s ahead of the World Junior Champion, Jonathan Sacoor who was 2nd in 45.32s and Rabah Yousif with 45.40s.
Machel Cendenio was also winner on the day, setting off with victory in heat 1 clocking 45.26s ahead of Akeem Bloomfield who stayed close enough for 2nd in 45.34s and Thapelo Phora 3rd in a time of 45.45s. Fourth placed Alphas Kishioyan also made it through in 45.65s.
Steven Gardiner, the silver medallist from the 2017 World Championships made light work of the fifth heat as he dominated from start to finish in 45.68s. Phillip Osei just held for 2nd in 45.87s while Anthony Jose Zambrano finished fast to qualify as the last man from that heat in 45.93s.
