Namibian sprinter Christine Mboma led African representatives Marie-Josée Ta Lou, Grace Nwokocha, Beatrice Masilingi, Aminatou Seyni and Gina Bass into the semifinal of women’s 200m here at the National Stadium Monday.
Mboma won her heat in a time of 22.11 easing up past America’s Gabby Thomas, who came in second ,despite her fast reaction at the gate.
With only the top three in each of the seven heats, as well as the two fastest fourth-placed athletes qualifying for the semifinals, the competition was fierce and produced fireworks as Mboma was pushed by Gabby for World U-20 record.
Another Namibian sprinter Beatrice Masilingi came in second in heat one where he set a personal best of 22.63. Jamaica’s Fraser-Pryce, 200m silver medallist in 2012, won the heat in 22.22, despite barely running the longer event since winning the world title in 2013.
Nigeria’s Grace Nwokoch made to the semis after clocking 22.47 in her heat while Aminatou Seyni from Niger set a time of 22.72 to qualify whereas Gambia sprinter Bass clocked 22.74.
It was a disappointing outing for Zambia’s Roda Njobvu and Lucia Morris of South Sudan as they failed to make to the next round after clocking 23.33 and 25.24 respectively.
Mboma and Masilingi were to compete in 400m but were ruled ineligible to compete in distances following tests of their heightened testosterone levels.
They will now run in semi-finals that is set take place later on Monday with the final on Tuesday.
Photo Courtesy: Reuters
