LONDON, England — Jamaica’s Natoya Goule and Kimarra McDonald both failed to advance from their 800m heats as did Kimberley Williamson in the women’s high jump last night.

National 800m champion Goule, who led for 750m, faded into fifth in 2:01.77 minutes in heat three behind Caster Semenya of South Africa who won in 2:01.33. Cuba’s Rose Almanza was second with 2:01.43 and Joanna Jozwik of Poland was third in 2:01.51.

Goule was left waiting to see if she would qualify as one of the six fastest losers, but that was not to be.

“I know that I will get through… I know that God has something is store for me. I am not gonna be worried,” said Goule before knowing her fate.

“I went out on a decent pace, but it was still slow and I know my coach is going to be mad at me. If I had gone out in 58 (seconds), I would definitely be in the top four,” she pointed out.

“But they came down and passed me on the line. I am a little bit pissed off about that. But it’s God’s will,” said Goule.

Goule, who has been running as a pacemaking rabbit for other athletes in recent times, could be seen watching the big screen and looked as if she had the race under control.

“I was looking to see where my opponents were… I was also confident, but mostly I wanted to see how far they are from me. I always slow down on the line (and) I probably did that today. I am not sure, whenever I see the line, I always slow down and I hope that wasn’t the case today,” she hoped.

But the diminutive runner, who saw Semenya and others breeze past her, revealed she has no problem running against the controversial South African.

“Once you focus on yourself and your goals there is no problem,” she quipped.

The national champion, who has a best time of 1:59.38, said she wanted to make the final to prove to Jamaica that it’s not all about sprinting.

“It is important to show Jamaica that we don’t only have sprinters, we also have distance runners and middle distance runners, because they only focus on the sprints that’s why it is important that I make it to the next round and the finals,” she emphasised.

But that never materialised and Goule will have to wait for another championship.

Her teammate McDonald threw in a clinker and finished seventh in her heat in a dismal 2:09.19 minutes.

McDonald, who failed to make the World Championships qualifying time at Trials and was invited by the IAAF, sauntered home some 50 metres behind the winner Charlene Lipsey of the USA, who won in 2:02.74.

“I was a last minute addition, so I was really excited to represent Jamaica,” said the 29-year-old McDonald.

“It was rough… It was just a bumpy race, not what I am used to and then a girl just tripped in front of me and it threw me off from there. It’s definitely not what I wanted because I can do much better than that,” said McDonald, who has a best time of 2:02.07 minutes.

“I will take this experience and move forward with it,” she added.

Meanwhile in the high jump, Williamson cleared 1.89m and was eighth in Group A and also failed to advance to the final. In fact for her highest jump, she placed 17th of the 29 jumpers on show.

Williamson cleared 1.82m on her first attempt then missed twice at 1.85m before clearing it on her third effort. She then cleared 1.89m on her first attempt at that distance, but failed three times at 1.92 and was eliminated.

“To be at a World Championships will only propel you for the future and show other Jamaicans that it is possible to be at the World Championships once you put the hard work in,” said Williamson.

“I am sure that when I leave here my performances will improve dramatically because I want at this level competing with the best in the world,” she added.

— Howard Walker