TOKYO, Japan – World junior record holder Britany Anderson ran a big personal best 12.40 seconds (0.0m/s) to win her semifinal race in the women’s 100m hurdles and advance to the finals along with national champion Megan Tapper at the Tokyo Olympics.

The third Jamaican in the semifinals, Yanique Thompson crashed out of her heat, unable to continue after hitting the sixth hurdle.

Anderson, the silver medallist at the World Under 20 championships in Finland in 2018, won her semi-final after a lengthy delay and dramatically lowered her lifetime best from 12.58 seconds which she ran in Jacksonville, Florida earlier this year. She is now joint second-fastest ever Jamaican in the event along with Janeek Brown. Danielle Williams is the national record holder with 12.32 seconds set in 2019.

Anderson’s race was held up for an unusually long time and saw at least three recalls but on each time the officials signalled a faulty start, meaning none of the athletes had false started.

Tapper, who had run a personal best 12.53 seconds in the first round, was second in her heat in 12.62 seconds (-0.2m/s) behind an Olympic record 12.26 seconds by world leader Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.

-Paul A Reid