BOTH BARBADIAN SPRINTERS have advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s 100 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.
Ramon Gittens finished second in his heat in 10.02 seconds and was an automatic qualifier, while Levi Cadogan was fourth in 10.12 and went through on time.
The semi-finals will run tomorrow night and Cadogan has been drawn in lane two of the second of three heats. Gittens will line up alongside World and Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica in lane seven of the final heat.
Everyone was anticipating the return of Bolt, who jogged home in 9.96 seconds.
However, American Justin Gatlin had the quickest qualifying time of 9.83 seconds.
Also advancing were Jamaicans Nickel Ashmeade (10.19) and Asafa Powell (9.95), but there was disappointment for a slew of Caribbean runners, including 2003 World champion Kim Collins of St Kitts & Nevis (10.16).
Meanwhile, Akela Jones slipped to 18th after a promising in the women’s heptathlon.
After clocking 13.17 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles, fifth overall, Jones cleared 1.80 metres in the high jump, 11 centimetres below her best this season.
She also had a sub-par shot put with 12.73 metres and was more than a full second off her best in the 200 metres in a time of 24.70 seconds. She has 3 701 points.
England currently hold the top two spots in Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson who have 4 005 and 3 925 points, respectively. Nadine Vasser of the Netherlands is in third place with 3 871 and Canadian world leader Brianne Theisen-Eaton is fourth with 3 865.
The meet continues at 8:30 p.m. (SAT)
