World U20 Champs: Card overcomes initial DQ, progresses to 200m final
OREGON, USA – Gary Card says he was not worried when he first heard that he had been disqualified for a lane violation in the first round of the men’s 200m on Friday at the World Under 20 championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The Jamaican was initially disqualified after finishing second in his first round race in the morning session but was reinstated after a successful appeal by the Jamaican management team.
Still, Card was more careful in the semi-finals a few hours later.
He and fellow 100m silver medallist Shanoya Douglas were among three Jamaicans who qualified for Saturday’s finals in the 200m. Tiana Marshall meanwhile continued to dominate in the 100m hurdles and also qualified for the final in that event.
Card ran a good first 150 metres before easing down and crossed the finish line in third place in 20.64 seconds (-0.5m/s) behind Blake Hamilton of the USA and Barbados’ Jayden Green. Nathaniel Martin was sixth in his semi-final in 21.13 (0.4m/s) and did not advance.
Douglas led all qualifiers after she won her semi-final in 22.53 seconds (0.5m/s) while Sashana Johnson also advanced after she was second in her race, running 22.92 seconds (1.2m/s), her second personal best of the day after she ran 22.95 seconds in the first round.
Marshall won her heat in 13.02 seconds (0.1m/s), the same time as South Africa’s Tumi Ramokgopa. Akeelah Bell was fifth in her heat in 13.52 seconds (0.9m/s) and failed to make progress.
Marquies Page ran a personal best 13.23 seconds (0.3m/s) in his 110m hurdles semis, under his previous best 13.34 seconds, but was fourth and failed to make progress while Taj-Oneil Gordon was sixth in a wind-aided 13.46 seconds (2.7m/s).
Joel Morgan ran a personal best 1:49.46 in the semi-finals of the men’s 800m, beating his previous best 1:49.93 set at the ISSA Champs but did not make progress.
Kevongaye Fowler was eighth in her women’s 800m semi-final after staying with the leaders for the first 600m, clocking 2:08.11.
-Paul A Reid