KINGSTON, Jamaica – Olympic 400m hurdles champion Melaine Walker’s controversial switch to the 100m hurdles failed miserably as she finished fifth in semi-final two in 13.59 seconds, and failed to qualify for the final set later tonight.

The race was won by Daeshon Gordon of Louisiana State University in 13.20 ahead of Kimberley Laing in 13.21 seconds.

Walker won the 2008 Olympic Games 400m hurdles in a record time of 52.64 seconds and improved that to 52.42 seconds while striking gold at the 2009 World championship, which is the second fastest time in history. However, she decided to switch to the shorter sprint hurdle, which led to a fallout with her coach Stephen Francis at MVP.

Meanwhile, Danielle Williams with 12.98 seconds enters the 100m final with the fastest time from semi-final one, and her sister, Shermaine Williams, won semi-final three in 13.13 seconds in a race in which the promising Megan Simmonds fell while leading close to home, and scrambled across the line in 14.40 seconds. She failed to qualify.

Howard Walker