Dawn Harper of the United States is qualified for the Women's 100m Hurdles final - London 2012 Olympic Games on August 7, 2012 (© Getty Images)
If proof was needed that the women’s 100m Hurdles final would be a battle between the reigning World champion Sally Pearson and defending Olympic champion Dawn Harper, well the semi-final round this evening was the clearest of confirmations.
First up was 28-year-old Harper, the winner of the US Olympic Trials, who completely overshadowed the rest of the field in the first semi-final where she set a new personal best time 12.46, the second fastest in the world this year and now only four hundredths of a second off Pearson’s own World lead.
But that was before the 25-year-old Australian champion made an impression for herself as she comfortably dominated her semi-final in an astonishing 12.39, just two hundredths of a second off Joanna Hayes’ Olympic record and interestingly three hundredths slower than her semi-final run at the Daegu World Championships last summer.
Both Harper and Pearson looked impressive and one can legitimate predict that Pearson’s personal best 12.28 Area record from Daegu might well be challenged in the final later tonight.
"I came out here and did exactly what my coach told me to do," Harper said. "I executed a good race. The final is going to be a great challenge and a great race."
The main surprise of this round was the automatic qualification of Heptathlete Jessica Zelinka who after trailing in fifth at halfway made an impressive surge all the way to second place in 12.66 overtaking seasoned hurdles specialists such as Lolo Jones, Tiffany Porter and Derval O’Rourke, one by one.
Running unbalanced for most of the second half Jones managed to hold on for third in 12.71 just ahead of Daegu finalist Porter (12.79) and former World Indoor champion O’Rourke who finished a disappointing fifth (12.91) after she had been in clear second halfway through the race.
Close attention should also be kept on US Trials runner up Kellie Wells whose 12.51 semi-final win was only one hundredth off her personal best time and double European champion Nevin Yanit who pushed her all the way to the wire to clock a new Turkish record 12.58.
The next one across the line in a personal best time 12.65 was Canadian runner-up Phylicia George who grabbed the first fastest losing time and will line-up for her second major championships final after last year’s World Championships in Daegu.
In the opening heat, three athletes desperately dipped to the line to grab second place behind Harper and were eventually separated by only one hundredth of a second.
The crucial second place was awarded to Austria’s Beate Schrott at a relatively slow 12.83.
In third Shermaine Williams of Jamaica was awarded the same time with Alina Talay, the World Indoor bronze medallist from Istanbul clocking 12.84, but their performances would not make the cut.
As it turned out, the last place in the final went to Jones leaving home crowd favourite Porter out of the final.
In the final, scheduled at 9pm tonight, Harper has been drawn in lane 4, Wells in 5, Yanit in 6 and Pearson in 7.
Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF
First up was 28-year-old Harper, the winner of the US Olympic Trials, who completely overshadowed the rest of the field in the first semi-final where she set a new personal best time 12.46, the second fastest in the world this year and now only four hundredths of a second off Pearson’s own World lead.
But that was before the 25-year-old Australian champion made an impression for herself as she comfortably dominated her semi-final in an astonishing 12.39, just two hundredths of a second off Joanna Hayes’ Olympic record and interestingly three hundredths slower than her semi-final run at the Daegu World Championships last summer.
Both Harper and Pearson looked impressive and one can legitimate predict that Pearson’s personal best 12.28 Area record from Daegu might well be challenged in the final later tonight.
"I came out here and did exactly what my coach told me to do," Harper said. "I executed a good race. The final is going to be a great challenge and a great race."
The main surprise of this round was the automatic qualification of Heptathlete Jessica Zelinka who after trailing in fifth at halfway made an impressive surge all the way to second place in 12.66 overtaking seasoned hurdles specialists such as Lolo Jones, Tiffany Porter and Derval O’Rourke, one by one.
Running unbalanced for most of the second half Jones managed to hold on for third in 12.71 just ahead of Daegu finalist Porter (12.79) and former World Indoor champion O’Rourke who finished a disappointing fifth (12.91) after she had been in clear second halfway through the race.
Close attention should also be kept on US Trials runner up Kellie Wells whose 12.51 semi-final win was only one hundredth off her personal best time and double European champion Nevin Yanit who pushed her all the way to the wire to clock a new Turkish record 12.58.
The next one across the line in a personal best time 12.65 was Canadian runner-up Phylicia George who grabbed the first fastest losing time and will line-up for her second major championships final after last year’s World Championships in Daegu.
In the opening heat, three athletes desperately dipped to the line to grab second place behind Harper and were eventually separated by only one hundredth of a second.
The crucial second place was awarded to Austria’s Beate Schrott at a relatively slow 12.83.
In third Shermaine Williams of Jamaica was awarded the same time with Alina Talay, the World Indoor bronze medallist from Istanbul clocking 12.84, but their performances would not make the cut.
As it turned out, the last place in the final went to Jones leaving home crowd favourite Porter out of the final.
In the final, scheduled at 9pm tonight, Harper has been drawn in lane 4, Wells in 5, Yanit in 6 and Pearson in 7.
Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF
