London, England — National champion Nathon Allen and the emerging Demish Gaye both advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s 400m, while Steven Gayle failed to advance and was eventually disqualified for lane infringement.

Gaye was first into action and he clocked 44.98secs while placing second in Heat Three behind the promising Babolki Thebe of Botswana, who won in 44.82secs, with home boy Dwayne Cowan third in 45.39secs.

Gaye, of GC Foster, who burst onto the scene last year as a late bloomer, ran a smart race from lane eight where he started out fast, put himself in a good position, held his form and came home fairly comfortable despite Thebe going by in the home straight.

Gaye, who has a seasonal and personal best of 44.64secs, said he was satisfied and was looking forward to the semi-finals.

“I am satisfied with the effort. I haven’t been racing for a while, so getting this 44.9 is good. I am just going to go out there tomorrow and get myself in the final,” said Gaye.

Gaye said he was a little nervous, but he didn’t allow it to bother him, and said he was not surprised he went so fast so early despite running from an outside lane.

“It didn’t bother me because I had someone in front of me and I paced myself off him and I practised to run out of lane eight so it wouldn’t be a problem,” he noted.

The 24-year-old Gaye, who was representing Jamaica for the first time, admitted that he has more in the tank and just did enough to qualify.

“I am very excited and I mean I like the atmosphere and I like the crowd and I love to represent the country and I want to do that as well as I can.”

Allen, one of, if not the smoothest runner in the game, won Heat Six in 44.91secs ahead of American Gil Roberts in 44.92secs and Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar in 45.27secs.

However, despite the poetry in motion look of Allen, he was in distress after the race and had to be taken to the medical centre by team doctor Carl Bruce. It was later revealed that he was dehydrated and had a mild headache.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s third entrant, Gayle, finished seventh in Heat Four in 46.33secs, but violated IAAF rule 163.3 (a) and was disqualified for lane infringement.

The race was won by the lanky and impressive Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas in 44.75secs. Wilbert London III of the US was second in 45.10secs. Jonathan Borlee of Belgium was fourth in 45.70secs, while Luquelin Santos of Dominican Republic, fifth with 45.73secs, failed to advance.

The 22-year-old Gayle, who has a personal best of 44.99secs and was third at Jamaica’s Senior Championships, was lost for reasons for his poor display.

“I am really disappointed. It wasn’t even close to my PR, but one thing I can do is thank God for this experience because it can only make me stronger for next year,” said Gayle.

The University of Alabama athlete said he was angry with himself because this is the biggest stage of track and field.

“It makes me angry inside because I am better than what I have displayed today and next time I will do my best,” he promised.

The semi-finals are set for today at 1:40 pm (Jamaican time) and Allen, who enters with the fourth-fastest time, is drawn in semi-final one and will match strides with Gardiner, who was second quickest with his 44.75secs, and American prodigy Fred Kerley who clocked 44.92secs as the fifth fastest.

Gaye is drawn in semi-final three with Isaac Makwala, who enters the semis with the fastest time of 44.55secs. Semi-final two has world record holder Wayde Van Nierkerk, who jogged to 45.27secs, Lashawn Merritt and Baboloki Thebe.