Blake advances; Burke does not

DOHA, Qatar – Olympic silver medallist, Yohan Blake and fellow Jamaian Tyquendo Tracey were the only two Caribbean qualifiers for Saturday’s semi-finals on the opening day of the IAAF World Championships today.

The 29-year-old Blake won heat four in a time of 10.07 seconds while Tracey, 26, finished fourth in heat two in 10.21, to book their places in the next round.

Blake, a former World champion, will run out of lane four in the second semi-final while Tracey will start from lane two in semi-final three.

In a dawn of new era of sprinting following the retirement of the legendary Usain Bolt, Blake used the occasion to signal his intentions.

Running out of lane four, he hardly exerted himself but was forced to keep tabs on Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut who streaked through in lane five to finish second in 10.08.

Yohan Blake and Mario Burke

Côte d’Ivoire’s Arthur Cisse ran on strongly to clinch third in 10.14 but there was no such luck for St Kitts and Nevis’ Hakeem Huggins who finished last in 10.62.

“I can take the world by storm again. It’s not impossible,” Blake told reporters afterwards.

“I just want to go out there and just remain focused, take it stride by stride. I’m not going to lie, I feel pretty good in myself and I just want to keep it like that.

“No pressure is on me. I just want to go out there and do what I have to do. [There’s] no pressure.”

Tracey, meanwhile, was forced to sprint hard over the last 40 metres in order to progress, as defending World champion Justin Gatlin of the United States crossed the line first in 10.06.

Canadian Andre de Grasse (10.13) and England’s Adam Gemili (10.19) rounded out the top three to clinch their places in the semis.

Cayman Islands’ Kemar Hyman, Antiguan Cejhae Greene and Barbadian Mario Burke all failed to get out of the preliminary round.

The semi-finals are set for 6:45 pm (11:45 am Eastern Caribbean time) with the final scheduled for 10:15 pm.

The women’s 100 metres will also get underway on Saturday.