Ahye books Olympic 100m semifinal spot, Baptiste eliminated

Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye advanced to Saturday’s women’s 100m semi-finals after winning her heat at the Olympic Stadium on Friday morning.

Ahye, running out of lane six in heat seven, caught Jamaican Shericka Jackon on the line to clock 11.06s and an automatic spot in the semi-final. Jackson crossed in 11.07.

Also advancing was JUSA’s Jenna Prandini, who was third in 11.11 seconds. Only the top three in each of the seven heats advance to the next stage.

Ahye, 29, will now vie for a place in the final on Saturday from 6.23am. She lines up in lane four of semifinal two. Only the top two sprinters from the three semifinal races automatically advance to the final. Two athletes with the next best times will be added to the list of finalists.

The final runs off at 8.50am on Saturday.

Five-time Olympian Kelly-Ann Baptiste was unable to book a spot in the next round as she finished sixth in her heat.

The 34-year-old Tobagonian clocked 11.48 seconds running out of lane nine. Winning the heat and automatically advancing was reigning women’s 100m Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) who clocked a speedy 10.82 seconds.

Also moving on the next round was Swiss runner-up Mujinga Kambundji (10.95s) and German Tatjana Pinto (11.16s).

Baptiste had a slow start and was unable to make up ground as the race progressed. Her best time in the 100m this season was 11.19 seconds.

She now shifts her focus to the women’s 4x100m relay event, which sprints off on Wednesday with round one action from 9pm.