Sogelau Tuvalu of American Samoa in the Preliminary round of the men's 100m (© Getty Images)
With a personal best of 10.23sec to his credit, the fastest not only of those in his heat but also of all those involved in the preliminary round of the 100 metres, Korea’s Kim Gook-Young had a very healthy chance of offering the healthy crowd inside the Daegu Stadium with an early – and perhaps rare – home victory.
All was set for him to claim a place in Round One, where all those with neither A or B standard qualifying marks join the 100m event, a format that has been introduced this year with an accompanying function of reducing the rounds from four to three for the top sprinters. Perhaps he might even be drawn alongside Usain Bolt?
Alas, the 20-year-old was undone by his eagerness to please, false starting in heat two. As the full realisation of what had just happened sank in, he was clearly beside himself and had to be half persuaded, half guided from the stadium by a sympathetic official.
Gook-Young was to be the only disqualification of the round, despite the presence of so many inexperienced runners, some of whom did not even have recognised personal bests.
With three from each of the four heats, plus one fastest other, proceeding to the evening’s First Round, Abdouraim Haroun of Chad was fastest qualifier with a personal best of 10.44, followed by Chi Ho Tsui of Hong Kong, with 10.45, and Keiron Rogers of Anguilla, with a national record of 10.55. Tilak Ram Thara of Nepal also ran a personal best, 11.00sec, to qualify.
Of those who failed to progress, eight managed personal bests, the slowest of whom was Sogelau Tuvala of Anguilla, with 15.66. But he finished a place above the unfortunate Gook-Young.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF
