Heat 1
After a good start from Isabel Roux (RSA) and the race favourite Mandy Crowe (IRL) came off the bend together, with the Irish champion pulling slightly away in the last 50 metres to secure her place in the next round with a personal best of 24.18 (wind +0.5 m/s). Roux ran 24.24, ahead of Croatia’s Danijela Grgic, the last automatic qualifier with 24.26. Also qualifying from this heat as a fastest loser was Rebecca Negus (AUS) while Gretta Taslakian of Libya set a national junior record of 24.52 in fifth.
Heat 2
Jamaica’s Nickesha Anderson, running in lane 2, had an excellent race, easing away from Sara Battke (GER) and Seyi Omojuwa (NGR) down the home straight to win in 23.52 (wind +0.1 m/s). The fourth and fifth finishers in this heat, Sari Keskitalo (FIN) and Carline Muir (CAN) also qualified as fastest losers.
Heat 3
This was the closest heat, with just 21 100ths separating the first three placings. Aurelie Kamga (FRA) had the best finish, stopping the clock at 23.37 just ahead of Kelly-Ann Baptiste (TRI) in 23.41 and Germany’s Maike Dix in 23.79 (wind +1.3 m/s). Australia’s Michelle Cutmore got through as a fastest loser in fourth place with 24.20.
Heat 4
The Pan American Junior champion Shalonda Solomon showed her class in this race, dominating her rivals to run a season’s best of 23.14 (wind +0.3 m/s). Solomon cruised across the finish line almost a second before Poland’s Marta Jeschke, who ran a season’s best 24.02, with Brazil’s Fra Das Gracas Krasucki coming coming third in 24.13 and Norway’s Elisabeth Slettum making it through as a fastest loser with 24.40.
Heat 5
Another outstanding performance came from Jamaica’s Anneisha McLaughlin, the long legged sprinter who opened up a gap of 10 metres coming down the straight to stop the clock at 23.27 (wind +1.2m/s) ahead of Colombia’s 16 year-old Yomara Hinestroza (24.47) and Kaoru Matsuda (24.48) of Japan. After the race, Hinestroza was disqualified for running out of her lane on the bend, so the automatic qualifier went to Jana Polivkova (CZE) who was originally 4th with 24.51.
Heat 6
In a close race, France’s Nelly Banco took first place with a personal best time of 23.85 (wind +0.5 m/s), just ahead of Shana Cox (USA) in 23.91, a season’s best. Sherry Fletcher of Grenada was third with 24.36 and Bulgaria’s Tezzhan Naimova earned the right to progress as a fastest loser with 24.38 in fourth place.
