Jamaican athletes got off to a good start on Wednesday’s opening day of track and field competition at the 2nd IOC Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, with four athletes qualifying for the medal round in their events.

Led by a season’s best and World Youth Leading 13.16 seconds (0.6m/s wind) from IAAF World Youth champion Jaheel Hyde in the men’s 110m hurdles, the Jamaican athletes are well set to beat Jamaica’s two medals won four years ago in Malaysia.

World Youth Championships 400m champion Martin Manley, high jumper Lushane Wilson with a personal best and female sprint hurdler Janeek Brown all advanced to A finals to be held at the Olympic stadium on Saturday.

Quarter-miler Tiffany James, discus throwers Janelle Fullerton and Vashon McCarthy as well as 800m runner Junelle Bromfield are through to B finals.

Today, three more athletes will seek to advance to finals — 100m sprinters Raheem Chambers and Shanice Reid and long jumper Obrien Wasome when they participate in their respective opening rounds.

The men’s beach volleyball team of Rojay Hutchinson and Shavar Bryan will hope a day’s rest will help them change their luck as they take on New Zealand in their fourth first round pool game. The Jamaican duo had lost their three previous matches to Brazil, Congo and Germany, all by 2-0 margins.

Yesterday, Hyde who also won the IAAF World Junior Championships 400m hurdles gold medal in Eugene, Oregon last month, clocked the fastest time in the world so far this year, winning his heat and easily qualifying for Saturday’s final.

His time was the third fastest ever, trailing France’s Wilhem Belocian’s World Youth Best 13.12 seconds set in 2012 and his own personal best 13.13 seconds set while winning the World Youth Championships in Ukraine last year.

Janeek Brown was third in her heat of the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.66 seconds, beaten by Laura Valette of France who ran a personal best 13.34 seconds and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jeminise Parris whose 13.62 seconds was also a life time best.

Manley, the World Youth Champion who is seeking to atone for a disappointing showing at the World Junior Championships, won his first round heat in 47.14 seconds to book his spot in the medal decider.

High jumper Wilson produced his best-ever jump of 2.07m to get into the final.

Fullerton had a best throw of 43.23m, which was good enough for ninth place after the first round and will contest the B final on Saturday.

McCarthy, the CARIFTA Games Under-18 champion, had a best-throw of 53.85m, which left him in 11th place and a spot in the B final as well.

Tiffany James just missed the final of the women’s 400m after running 54.54 seconds for second in her heat, but will seek the consolation of winning the B final.

Junelle Bromfield was fifth in her heat of the women’s 800m in 2:13.22 minutes and had to be content with making it to the B final.

Meanwhile, in one swimming event contested by a Jamaican yesterday, Sidrell Williams was seventh in the preliminaries of the men’s 50m butterfly and failed to advance to the semi-finals.