Carmelita Jeter of the United States waves after competes in the Women's 100m Semi Final on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 4, 2012 (© Getty Images)
World champion Carmelita Jeter threw the gauntlet down to her medal hungry rivals when flying to the fastest time of the night which matched the fourth fastest in Olympic history of 10.83 which she had also clocked in her heat.
Jamaica's 2004 100m bronze medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown, the double Olympic 200m champion, was quickest out of the blocks and it looked until 60m as if she might outpace her American opponent until the fastest living woman at the distance put her foot on the accelerator to win by 0.06sec with Brazil's Roseangela Santos third in a personal best 11.17. With six sprinters including the 32-year-old Jeter and Campbell-Brown clocking sub-11 second performances in the first round, all three semi-finals comprised loaded line-ups and the encounters brilliantly lived up to expectations.
Defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the next semi leading from gun-to-tape produced a very streamlined display of 10.85 - clearly indicating the Jamaican has the capacity to raise her game in the final later tonight. Behind her two-time Olympic 200m silver medallist Allyson Felix showed her versatility when getting the better of 2012 World Championships 100m bronze medallist Kelly-Ann Baptiste, beating the more fancied Trinidad athlete by 0.06sec with a mark 10.94.
The third and final heat was a real thriller with Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare slicing one-hundredth-of-a-second from her lifetime best set in her heat, clocking a fantastic 10.92 as she edged past Tianna Madison of USA on the line.
The American runner-up who looked to have the race tied up until the Nigerian's late surge, reduced her own PB by a healthy 0.04sec, giving her the same time as the winner. Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast was in with a good chance of making the final automatically until a metre from the finish line but went through as a fastest qualifier in 11.01 along with a relieved Baptiste.
David Martin for IAAF
Jamaica's 2004 100m bronze medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown, the double Olympic 200m champion, was quickest out of the blocks and it looked until 60m as if she might outpace her American opponent until the fastest living woman at the distance put her foot on the accelerator to win by 0.06sec with Brazil's Roseangela Santos third in a personal best 11.17. With six sprinters including the 32-year-old Jeter and Campbell-Brown clocking sub-11 second performances in the first round, all three semi-finals comprised loaded line-ups and the encounters brilliantly lived up to expectations.
Defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the next semi leading from gun-to-tape produced a very streamlined display of 10.85 - clearly indicating the Jamaican has the capacity to raise her game in the final later tonight. Behind her two-time Olympic 200m silver medallist Allyson Felix showed her versatility when getting the better of 2012 World Championships 100m bronze medallist Kelly-Ann Baptiste, beating the more fancied Trinidad athlete by 0.06sec with a mark 10.94.
The third and final heat was a real thriller with Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare slicing one-hundredth-of-a-second from her lifetime best set in her heat, clocking a fantastic 10.92 as she edged past Tianna Madison of USA on the line.
The American runner-up who looked to have the race tied up until the Nigerian's late surge, reduced her own PB by a healthy 0.04sec, giving her the same time as the winner. Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast was in with a good chance of making the final automatically until a metre from the finish line but went through as a fastest qualifier in 11.01 along with a relieved Baptiste.
David Martin for IAAF
