OREGON, United States — Jamaica’s medal hopefuls Gary Card, Shanoya Douglas and Theianna-Lee Terrelonge advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s and women’s 100m on the opening day of the World Athletics Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field.

The trio progressed after strong performances in the first round on Wednesday, with the semi-finals set for the same day and the finals scheduled for Thursday’s second session.

Card eased his way to winning his heat in 10.07 seconds (0.3m/s), finishing ahead of China’s Hongyu Dai, who clocked 10.29 seconds. He will face Guyana’s Onesi Dunn and South Africa’s Mukona Manavhela in the semi-finals.

His teammate Dontae Watson failed to advance after placing fifth in his heat in 10.46 seconds (1.4m/s).

In the women’s event, Douglas and Terrelonge both won their heats to secure automatic qualification. Douglas produced a dominant performance, clocking 11.35 seconds (0.4m/s) to finish ahead of Czechia’s Klara Kederova and South Africa’s Rume Burger, who both ran 11.56 seconds.

Douglas will line up against one of the highly rated American twins Mariah Maxwell and Guyana’s Athaleyha Hinkson in the semi-finals, while Terrelonge will face the other twin, Mia Maxwell, and former Edwin Allen High teammate Alexxe Henry of Trinidad and Tobago.

Jamaica also advanced to the final of the mixed 4x400m relay, with Jabari Matheson, Shameika McLean, Jordan Rehedul and Kristen Herbert winning their semi-final heat in 3:21.47.

Matheson, who ran 43.65 seconds on the opening leg, said the team’s focus was on executing their race plan and securing a place in the final.

“It was a good race. We just need to come out here and just execute and get to the finals. We are the first one to get on the track as the Jamaicans, so we just come out here to set the pace for the rest of the athletes as well, so I’m very happy we won and advanced,” he told Observer Online.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s shot put representatives Nkosana Johnson and Kamari Kennedy failed to advance to the final, finishing at the bottom of their respective groups. Johnson recorded a best throw of 17.63m, while Kennedy managed 17.15m.

— Paul A Reid