Usain Bolt easing through the first round of the 100m at the Jamaican Trials in Kingston (© Anthony Foster)
Dubbed the big three, Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell, who according to many, the 2012 Supreme Ventures-sponsored Jamaica Olympic Trials is built around, made progress to the semi-final round of the men’s 100m on Thursday.
All three, having sat out the first round, which brought eight qualifiers into the quarterfinal stage, joined at the quarterfinals and never disappointed.
Bolt, the Olympic Games sprint double champion, was first up and despite the round’s only false start, eased to 10.06 to quality. He took with him another of Jamaica’s rising stars Jacques Harvey, who clocked 10.15 for second.
Blake, nicknamed "The Beast", was next up, and after matching strides with training partner Kemar Bailey-Cole for the first 40 metres, pulled away to comfortably secure his semi-final berth in 10.00secs, the fastest time of the day.
Powell ran from lane three in heat three, but he had the world’s fourth fastest man to run with in training partner Nesta Carter and both went down to the line in 10.19secs even. Carter got the win in the photo finish room.
Powell said: "The plan was just to get through, and I did just so. It was a pretty okay time, knowing that, I only ran the first 20 metres of the race."
Carter is well aware of what to come in the next rounds saying, "come Friday you have two tough ones (rounds) to pass, so I just came out here to stay focused and get my energy pumped up for tomorrow."
In the last quarterfinal heat, Michael Frater (10.09) and Lerone Clarke (10.15) took the top two spots.
"The real running doesn’t start until Friday so I just wanted to get through to this round," Frater said. Clarke added, "the first round was very good for me."
Clarke continued: "Last week I picked up a slight injury so I was kind of worried coming in, if I would have made it here, but so far I have been blessed by God to be healthy again … so hopefully I'll do better Friday."
Novlene Williams-Mills and Shericka Williams both eased their way into the semi finals of the women’s 400m. Williams-Mills clocked 52.18 seconds and Williams 52.13 as both recorded victories in heats one and four respectively. However, Christine Day with 51.50 and Rosemarie Whyte 51.80 were the only two to break 52 seconds.
In the men's section national record holder Jermaine Gonzales booked his semi-final berth with 46.39 while former national champion Ricardo Chambers clocked 46.19 seconds to take heat 6. Dane Hyatt 45.70, Errol Nolan 45.76 and Javere Bell 45.81 were the only ones to break 46 seconds.
Meanwhile, in Friday night’s 400m hurdles final, Olympic champion Melanie Walker (54.88) along with Kaliese Spencer (55.92) should take the top two spots.
Walker said: "First round was pretty good, but I am a little bit worried because the time was so fast. I did not feel it, so I don’t know if it's good or bad. I went out there and did what I had to do. Now I have to sit and wait to see what the final will look like."
Holmwood Tech schoolgirl Janieve Russell recorded a personal best time of 57.04 seconds, which is the world junior leading time.
In the men’s section, Josef Robertson recorded the fastest time 49.99 to qualify. Veteran hurdler Danny McFarlane ran 50.96 and former national champion Isa Phillips 50.21.
In the lone final contested on the day, Jeffery King landed the men’s javelin with a throw of 60.35m.
Anthony Foster for the IAAF
Click here for RESULTS
All three, having sat out the first round, which brought eight qualifiers into the quarterfinal stage, joined at the quarterfinals and never disappointed.
Bolt, the Olympic Games sprint double champion, was first up and despite the round’s only false start, eased to 10.06 to quality. He took with him another of Jamaica’s rising stars Jacques Harvey, who clocked 10.15 for second.
Blake, nicknamed "The Beast", was next up, and after matching strides with training partner Kemar Bailey-Cole for the first 40 metres, pulled away to comfortably secure his semi-final berth in 10.00secs, the fastest time of the day.
Powell ran from lane three in heat three, but he had the world’s fourth fastest man to run with in training partner Nesta Carter and both went down to the line in 10.19secs even. Carter got the win in the photo finish room.
Powell said: "The plan was just to get through, and I did just so. It was a pretty okay time, knowing that, I only ran the first 20 metres of the race."
Carter is well aware of what to come in the next rounds saying, "come Friday you have two tough ones (rounds) to pass, so I just came out here to stay focused and get my energy pumped up for tomorrow."
In the last quarterfinal heat, Michael Frater (10.09) and Lerone Clarke (10.15) took the top two spots.
"The real running doesn’t start until Friday so I just wanted to get through to this round," Frater said. Clarke added, "the first round was very good for me."
Clarke continued: "Last week I picked up a slight injury so I was kind of worried coming in, if I would have made it here, but so far I have been blessed by God to be healthy again … so hopefully I'll do better Friday."
Novlene Williams-Mills and Shericka Williams both eased their way into the semi finals of the women’s 400m. Williams-Mills clocked 52.18 seconds and Williams 52.13 as both recorded victories in heats one and four respectively. However, Christine Day with 51.50 and Rosemarie Whyte 51.80 were the only two to break 52 seconds.
In the men's section national record holder Jermaine Gonzales booked his semi-final berth with 46.39 while former national champion Ricardo Chambers clocked 46.19 seconds to take heat 6. Dane Hyatt 45.70, Errol Nolan 45.76 and Javere Bell 45.81 were the only ones to break 46 seconds.
Meanwhile, in Friday night’s 400m hurdles final, Olympic champion Melanie Walker (54.88) along with Kaliese Spencer (55.92) should take the top two spots.
Walker said: "First round was pretty good, but I am a little bit worried because the time was so fast. I did not feel it, so I don’t know if it's good or bad. I went out there and did what I had to do. Now I have to sit and wait to see what the final will look like."
Holmwood Tech schoolgirl Janieve Russell recorded a personal best time of 57.04 seconds, which is the world junior leading time.
In the men’s section, Josef Robertson recorded the fastest time 49.99 to qualify. Veteran hurdler Danny McFarlane ran 50.96 and former national champion Isa Phillips 50.21.
In the lone final contested on the day, Jeffery King landed the men’s javelin with a throw of 60.35m.
Anthony Foster for the IAAF
Click here for RESULTS
