finals in the men’s 200 metres, Italy’s Andrew Howe was once again the main protagonist. Following a very poor start, yesterday’s Long Jump World junior champion increased his rhythm and entered the home straight level with Canada’s Hank Palmer. The Italian made the difference with 60 metres to go and once the win was secured five metres before the line he stopped pushing. Howe nevertheless broke the national junior record in 20.72, the fastest time of the field. There was a personal best also for Palmer whose time of 20.81 was good enough for second.
In the second semi-final, South Africa’s Leigh Julius confirmed his status of favourite with a very powerful outing. Despite a false start, Julius entered the final straight well clear of the field. After a couple of looks to check where his opponents were, the South African reduced his speed and crossed the finish line in 20.84. Two sprinters from Trinidad and Tobago were fighting for the second qualifying spot behind Julius with Jamil James edging Marcus Duncan 20.97 to 21.23.
A one-two finish from the British runners highlighted the last semi-final in which both Julian Thomas in 20.86 and Rikki Fifton in 20.90 set personal bests. Ghana’s Samuel Adade in third was one of two fastest losers to advance to the final while American Carey Lacour failed to finish as he pulled a muscle.
For the third time in the history of the World Junior Championships there will be no US representative in the final of the men’s 200m.
