Twenty-year-old Jehue Gordon brought some sunlight to a dull, cold Moscow morning at the 2013 World Championships, yesterday, winning his heat and qualifying for today's semifinals.
Running in the last of five heats in the 400-metre hurdles, Gordon was made to work harder than he would have wanted, but won in a time of 49.52 to progress to today's semifinal at 11.40 am (TT time).
It was a day that started with promise but ended without success for T&T.
Apart from Gordon, five T&T athletes competed in various semifinals but failed to progress to the finals while women's 400-metre hurdler, Sparkle McKnight could not advance out of the heats, finishing last of eight in her effort.
Mikel Thomas finished fourth in his 110-metre hurdles semifinal while Wayne Davis was sixth. Thomas was tenth overall and Davis 11th.
Michelle Lee Ahye was fifth in her 100 metres semifinal in 11.33 which was not good enough to earn a place in the final which was won by Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica.
Also dropping out of competition in the 400 metres were Deon Lendore and Jarrin Solomon. Lendore was fourth in his semifinal in 45.47 and 12th overall while Solomon was also fourth in his event in 45.43 and 11th overall.
An optimistic Gordon said he felt good after his first place effort but insisted his time was not a major factor. "The time was really not significant. The idea was to make sure and qualify for the next round. Gordon said he used up as little energy as possible. "The semifinals really takes a lot out of you, so it is just to go home and recover as much as possible before tomorrow. I am happy with winning. Today was a bit colder than most days, but we had the full works and I am prepared," Gordon revealed.
He described his race as "perfectly executed."
"It was determined by how these guys in lane six and lane seven went out. It took me out of my game plan a little, because I wanted to go up until the eighth hurdle with 13 steps. I went about sixth to the sixth hurdle. These guys just did something crazy and in the end, I just focussed on my lane," added Gordon.
Questioned on any comparisons with the London Olympics where he reached the final, Gordon said: "I have come here with a lot more experience. I was a lot calmer coming into the heats...although the pressure was building up in the call room as everybody was pacing around. This is my third World Championships and I came in a lot more settled. The medical team is giving me full support and the manager is making certain we have everything we need."
McKnight was disappointed with her effort saying it was not her best race.
She said: "It was my first time competing at this level and I had a very long season and was just happy to be here and to compete."
Davis said he focused on the wrong lane.
He said: "My body was out of position from the first hurdle. I lost the race from the first hurdle. This is the first time I have raced against this quality of field and sometimes it just takes a little getting to be able to run with these guys."
Lee Ahye told the T&T Guardian she was not happy with her start but ran her heart out to the end. "Once I fix my start, I will be hard to beat in years to come."
Lee Ahye has already turned her attention to the relays and in the absence of both Kelly Ann Baptiste and Semoy Hackett, she understands her role. "
"My focus is the 4x100 metres on Saturday. All eyes will be on me to run the anchor leg, our aim is to reach the final and then go after it."
Lendore said he went into his race with lots of confidence but, midway through, he did not have any reserves in the tank. "I just tried my best to come home but I am not one to look back. I am looking to prepare for the 4x400 in a couple of days. I love relays so I will be ready to run the 4x400."
Solomon said he went out hard but he may have been intimidated by the presence of Olympic champion Kirani James and the Olympic silver medallist. "I tied up a little bit coming home, that is what caused me to finish fourth, but overall it just was not my day," he said.
"I look at the positives, I was able to come back and run a decent time after running a personal best, and I came fourth in a race with some really good people."
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