TOKYO, Japan – National champion Ronald Levy and Hansle Parchment will seek to continue Jamaica’s fine record in sprint hurdling when they line up in the finals of the 110m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics after both qualified from the semis Wednesday morning in Tokyo.

Both men ran the same time, 13.23 seconds, Levy to win his semi-final heat and Parchment for second in his heat while the third Jamaican, Damion Thomas, failed to advance after placing third in his race in 13.39 seconds (0.1m/s), finishing out of the top two automatic qualifying spots.

As he did in the first round, Thomas, the World Under 20 champion, got off to a slow start and, despite clawing his way towards the front of the race, ran out of time.

Levy, the Commonwealth Games champion, will hope to erase the bitter memories of the last two World Championships when he failed to finish his first round race in London in 2017 and was disqualified in Doha two years ago.

Parchment will return to the Olympic final after winning a bronze in London in 2012. He has also qualified for two World Championship finals since then.

-Paul A Reid