BYDGOSZCZ, Poland — Jamaica look set to open its medal account at the IAAF World Under-20 Championships at Zawiszaw Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on today’s third day of competition after four athletes qualified in three events yesterday.

The Jamaicans who, came into the championships with high expectations, started with a solid showing yesterday after Tuesday’s quiet opening day.

De’jour Russell in the men’s 110m hurdles, Tiffany James and Junelle Bromfield in the women’s 400m, and Jordan Scott in the triple jump will join discus thrower Devia Brown in finals today.

Both Russell and James capped their performances yesterday with massive personal-best times and announced themselves as legitimate medal prospects.

Last night, Raheem Chambers led for the first 50 metres in the final of the men’s 100m after getting off to a fast start, but finished sixth in 10.30 seconds (0.2m/s). American Noah Lyles won in 10.17 seconds, beating Italy’s Fillippo Tortu (10.24 seconds) and Barbados’s Mario Burkes, who was third in 10.26 seconds.

In the semi-finals earlier, Chambers was third in 10.36 seconds (-0.6m/s) behind Tortu and Burke, while Jhavaughn Matherson failed to make it past the semi-finals, finishing fourth in 10.40 seconds (0.7m/s), the 10th best overall.

Chambers was the first Jamaican man to qualify for a 100m final at this level since 2012, when Odean Skeen and Jazeel Murphy made it to the final in Barcelona, Spain.

Also yesterday, quarter-milers Christopher Taylor and Sean Bailey made progress to today’s semi-finals, as did women’s 400m hurdlers Nicolee Foster and Shannon Kalawan, along with 100m sprinter Vanesha Pusey, who made it past the first round with the eighth-fastest time of the day.

Russell, who was 16 in April, became the second-fastest Jamaican Under-20 over the 110m hurdles and seventh best all time after he blazed his way to a magnificent 13.20-second personal best in the semi-final yesterday.

Only Tyler Mason’s 13.06 seconds Jamaica national junior record, set two years ago while winning the silver medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, has gone faster.

Minutes after watching teammate and medal favourite Damion Thomas crash out in his semi-finals, and after having to watch South Africa’s Thabo Maganyele false start twice in the lane next to him, Russell got off to a slow start, but he rallied to take the lead after the sixth hurdle before running away to win easily.

Russell, who looked shaky in the morning’s first round where he was third in his heat, ripped off 0.35 seconds off his previous personal best of 13.55 seconds.

“I didn’t get a bad start and I pushed from the go; give God thanks for completing the race healthy,” Russell said.

He added that he was able to keep his focus and did not allow the false starts to affect him. “I will now have to motivate Damion so he can motivate me; he is a really good competitor and I really wanted him in the race, but unfortunately he fell.”

Russell was also not surprised by his fast time. “In training I have been running faster times, but maybe God doesn’t want me to unleash the speed yet. I am waiting for the final.”

And being one of several 16-year-olds on the team has not affected him either. “It motivates me, the team members motivate me, the best is yet to come.”

Meanwhile, a disappointed Thomas, also 16 years old, told reporters here he slipped at the start and crashed into the first hurdle, but said he will use this setback as “a lesson learned”.

The Florida-based hurdler, who had an outstanding season and had run an easy 13.48 seconds while running into a head wind (-0.8m/s) in the first round, added: “I didn’t react fast enough to the first hurdle and my lead leg hit it and I fell.”

Admitting he was gutted, the 17-year-old said: “I am very disappointed. I trained all year for this and to end like this, I didn’t like the way it ended, but I will be back in 2018.”

Both James and Bromfield have made significant steps towards promises they made to themselves this season as they qualified for the women’s one-lap event with ease.

James continued her outstanding late-season form as she lowered her one-month-old personal best 52.06 seconds set at the National Junior Championships with 51.77 seconds, as she won her semi-final well ahead of Canada’s Natassha McDonald, who also had a personal best 53.06 seconds.

“I feel very elated right now. My major aim this season was to get that 51 seconds and I finally got it,” she said. “I came here with two aims: one to get a personal best and to get on the podium. I already conquered one and looking for the next one tomorrow.”

Bromfield, who backed off at the end of her race and finished second in 52.18 seconds behind Australia’s Jessica Thornton in 52.12 seconds, said she did enough to qualify.

“I ran to instructions,” Bromfield said. “There is another day; I knew the top two would advance and I did what I needed to do. You can expect something great tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Scott, who had a best jump of 15.99m (0.5m/s) for third in his group and sixth overall to advance to the final, told the

Jamaica Observer he can go further than his personal best 16.01m set earlier this year.

Javier Lowe failed to advance after managing only 15.38m for 23rd overall.

In the men’s 400m first round, Taylor won his heat in 46.73 seconds, but had to run hard in the final 80 metres after he came off the last bend in fourth place.

Bailey was second in his heat in 46.83 seconds as both took their places in today’s second round.

Medal contender Shannon Kalawan was second in her first-round 400m hurdles heat in 58.23 seconds, beaten by Bahrain’s Aminat Yusuf Jamal, who ran a National Under-20 Record 56.94 seconds from lane two.

Nicolee Foster was third in her heat in 59.19 seconds to join Kalawan in the semi-finals today.

Vanesha Pusey was the only qualifier in the women’s 100m after she ran 11.60 seconds (1.7m/s) for fourth in her heat and advanced on time to the semi-finals.

Patrice Moody, who won the national junior title last month, was left back in the blocks and was seventh in her race in a disappointing 12.02 seconds (-0.8m/s).

Janelle Fullerton had one legal throw in the shot put qualifying, 14.33m, and finished 15th overall, outside of the top 12 that advanced to the final later yesterday.