Defending champion Antonio Watson was knocked out in the first round of the men’s 400m after he finished at the back of the pack in his heat at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday.

Watson was never competitive throughout the race and clocked 46.23 seconds, 45th of the 48 men who competed in the first round.

Meanwhile, national champion Rusheen McDonald and newcomers Bovel McPherson and Delano Kennedy all advanced to the next round.

Rusheen McDonald of Jamaica competes in the 400m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday, September 14, 2025. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

McDonald ran a season’s best 44.38 seconds for second in his race while McPherson and Kennedy both ran personal best times to book their places.

The 33-year-old McDonald finished second in his heat, lowering his season’s best from 44.89 seconds set when he won the national championships in June.

McPherson, running ‘blind’ in lane nine in the second heat, clocked 44.51 seconds, beating the 44.78 seconds he set in May at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas and jumped 10 spots on the Jamaican men’s all time list to 11th place.

Kennedy was fourth in 44.74 seconds, under the 44.91 seconds he set at the national championships and advanced on time.