Leah Bertrand targets 'perfect race' in women's 100m semis

Trinidad and Tobago's reigning national 100-metre women's champion Leah Bertrand believes she will need to run the perfect race in order to have a chance of qualifying for the final of the 100m event at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Stade de France on August 3.

On August 2, the first-time Olympian sealed a spot in the semifinal when she grabbed a third-place finish in her heat in 11.27 seconds. Bertrand copped the 2024 national crown with an 11.18 clocking at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on June 29, and she showed her power in the closing stages of heat six to take the final automatic spot in the race. US sprinter Twanisha Terry took the top spot in the heat in 11.15, with Jamaica's Shashalee Forbes, a late replacement in the 100m event for four-time world champion Shericka Jackson, grabbing second in 11.19.

Running out of lane four, the late surge from the 22-year-old Bertrand saw her surpassing Switzerland's Salome Kora (11.35) in lane one. With the top three athletes from the eight heats moving on to the semis, alongside the three next fastest runners, Bertrand's timely burst has earned her a spot in the third semifinal which will be contested at 2.08 pm (TT time) on August 3.

Bertrand has been drawn in lane one for her semis, and she will have to contend with athletes such as Terry, Jamaica's Tia Clayton, New Zealand's Zoe Hobbs, Canada's Audrey Leduc and Great Britain sprinter Daryll Neita if she is to qualify for an Olympic final in her maiden appearance at the games.

The top two athletes from each semifinal will advance to the final, along with the next two fastest runners. The final will run off at 3.20 pm on August 3.

"I feel like my determination is what got me through because although in the middle of my race I was kind of falling behind, I said to myself, 'don't give up, just run through. You never know what could happen,'" Bertrand told Newsday.

Bertrand was over the moon after the race and she said it will be a "dream come true" to make the final and get a chance to be on the podium.

She knows it will take a special effort for her to attain that goal, though.

"I need to do what I did today, but with fewer mistakes. I need to go out and try to execute the perfect race I could in order to qualify and advance...after running today (August 2), I took some time to talk to my coach and see how I could improve for tomorrow (August 3). We're just kinda working over the plan to see how we can go in and qualify for the final."

Neita, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist, will be one of the favourites for semifinal three after running to a season's best time of 10.92 to win her heat. Hobbs also clocked a season's best time in the heats when she ran 11.08 to finish second behind St Lucia's Julien Alfred (10.95) in heat two.

Leduc ran to a personal best and national record time of 10.95 to win heat four ahead of Clayton (11.00).

Former 400m hurdles world champion Jehue Gordon praised Bertrand for her efforts in the heats, and said she'll need to pull out her best race ever to land a final spot in Paris.

"I'm happy for Leah...I look forward to seeing how Leah does in the semis because she will have to run a personal best to even get past the 10.9-second barrier if she wants to have a berth in the Olympic final," Gordon said, during SportsMax's coverage of the Olympics.

"Her strong point is really the last 40 metres or so. But at this level, she needs to improve on her start and work on her first 40 metres if she wants to improve on her personal best," Gordon said. "I think she'll have to clean up her start."

Bertrand's personal best is 11.08, and her season's best of 11.09 came at a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) meet three months ago.

Bertrand will be the only TT athlete in the women's 100m semifinals, as veteran sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye (11.33) had a fourth-placed finish in heat two and was unable to progress as one of the non-automatic qualifiers. The 32-year-old just finished behind the third-placed Zaynab Dosso (11.30), who grabbed heat two's final qualifying spot behind the pair of Alfred and Hobbs.

After her race, Ahye had some fighting words for the TT public as she lashed out at the lack of support from certain factions.

"Honestly, I have nothing to tell them (TT), because some of them haven't been supportive towards us as the athletes," Ahye told SportsMax. "To the ones who have been supporting us, thank you. And for the others, I really have nothing to say."

Ahye tried to take the disappointment of exiting the heats in stride.

"The conditions were fine. It was nice and hot, but I felt a little sluggish. Some days you're good and some days you're not."

Ivory Coast's Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (10.87) finished as the fastest qualifier through the heats — just edging out three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.92) in the eighth and final heat.

American sprinter Sha'carri Richardson, the 2023 100m world champion, clocked the fourth-fastest time when she sped to victory in heat one in 10.94.

Richardson and Fraser-Pryce will have a clash of the ages when they face off in the second semi, which also features the impressive Alfred.

On August 3, Devin Augustine, TT's reigning 100m champion, will hope to replicate Bertrand's feat when he lines up in the men's 100m heats which will commence at 5.55 am. (With reporting by Jonathan Ramnanansingh).