LONDON – As expected, Ryan Brathwaite is through to the semi-finals of the men’s 110 metres hurdles here at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
But Greggmar Swift and Shane Brathwaite saw their Olympics debut end in the first round for different reason.
Ryan Brathwaite, the 2009 world champion, qualified second in his heat with a season’s best time of 13.23 seconds behind American Aries Merritt, the world leader, who had the fastest time of 13.07 seconds.
He will await the lineup for the semi-finals which will be held at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow.
Swift had a good start, but faded to fifth in his heat in 13.62 seconds. He was in line for qualification, but as the other heats finished, he was bumped down the line.
Shane Brathwaite suffered the cruelest cut of all.
After a simply fantastic start, he never got his lead leg over the first hurdle and fell. The race for him was over before it really started.
Another casualty of that heat was 2004 Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China. His lead leg never got over the first hurdle either and he crashed headlong into it, then clutched his right ankle. He tried to get up, but could put no pressure on the ankle and hobbled down the line trying to finish.
Poland’s Artur Noga also did not finish. Replays showed him clutching his right hamstring and he did not even attempt to clear the hurdle. (SAT)
