Home|Sports|One moves on, while the next comes up shortSports
Gaither advances to 200m semis; heartache and disappointment for Strachan again
Sheldon LongleySend an emailJuly 19, 2022 271 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Just two Bahamians were in action on day four of the 18th World Athletics (WA) Outdoor Championships currently ongoing at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA, and both competed on the track in the same event.
After false starting in the semifinals of the women’s 100 meters (m) the day before, TyNia Gaither advanced out of the opening round heats of the women’s 200m, while Anthonique Strachan suffered a disheartening fate.
Gaither was third in her heat to grab one of the three automatic qualifying spots for the semis which are set for this evening at Hayward Field. Gaither was timed in 22.61 seconds, finishing behind American Tamara Clark and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain. Clark ran 22.27 seconds and Asher-Smith qualified in 22.56 seconds.
Gaither has the 13th fastest time going into the semifinals this evening. She will run out of lane eight in the first of three semifinal heats today. Just the top two in each heat and the next two fastest times will advance to Thursday’s final.
As for Strachan, she had the lead in her opening round heat coming off the curve but appeared to pull up with a hamstring injury on the straight away and hobbled to the finish. She managed to finish the race but was out of contention for one of the top three spots and a qualifying spot for the semifinals. Once again, it’s heartache and disappointment for Strachan as it is the second straight world championships in which she pulled up in the women’s 200m.
The day before, Strachan finished 10th overall in the women’s 100m, running a lifetime best of 10.98 seconds in the semifinals. Gaither false started in her semifinal heat of the women’s 100m. A total of 10 women, including Strachan, ran under 11 seconds in the women’s 100m semifinals.
There was a Jamaican sweep in the final as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won her fifth world championships gold medal in the women’s 100m, clocking a championships record of 10.67 seconds, Shericka Jackson was second in a personal best time of 10.73 seconds and two-time Olympic Champion Elaine Thompson-Herah finished third in 10.81 seconds. It’s the same trio of medalists from the Tokyo Olympics last year, but in a different order.
Strachan is still looking to make her first global individual final on the senior side while Gaither is looking to make her third. Gaither finished eighth in the women’s 200m at the last two world championships, and is looking to make her third consecutive world championships final in that event. She will be the only member of Team Bahamas in action today, competing in the semis of the women’s 200m.
Two-time Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo will be the only member of Team Bahamas in action tomorrow, competing in the semifinals of the women’s 400m. Miller-Uibo will run out of lane six in the first of three semifinal heats at 9:45 p.m. tomorrow. Just the top two finishers in each semifinal heat and the next two fastest times will advance to Friday’s final.
Miller-Uibo cruised into the semis, easily winning her first round heat in a modest 51.10 seconds. She goes into the semis tomorrow with the ninth-fastest time out of the opening round heats. The Bahamian is still looking for her first world title outdoors and is the favorite to get the job done.
Also competing for The Bahamas this week will be Devynne Charlton in the women’s 100m hurdles, Ken Mullings in the men’s decathlon and the women’s 4x400m relay team.
The Bahamas has won at least one medal at every world athletics championships since 2013, and has won 25 medals in the history of the championships – eight gold, nine silver and eight bronze.
This is the first time the world championships are being held on US soil in the 39-year history of the event. A total of 1,972 athletes from 192 countries are in action.