EUGENE, United States, Jul 19 – Fresh from winning a record fifth world 100m title, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce easily advanced into the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“Oh man, it was hard!” said Fraser-Pryce. “It was a late night and I needed to come back and try to qualify as easy as I can to preserve my strength for tomorrow.
“I am feeling OK so far. Just have to go home and get some recovery done and see how it goes tomorrow. I need to eat some food, get a massage, some compression, and just rest, get some sleep.”
Joining the 35-year-old, a world 200m champion in 2013, in Tuesday’s semi-finals will be her two teammates who helped snatch an unprecedented cleansweep of the 100m podium for Jamaica on Sunday.
Shericka Jackson, who has the quickest time this season of 21.55sec, and four-time Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, a world silver medallist over 200m in 2015, are still both seeking their first individual world titles.
“Qualified and that is enough for today,” said Thompson-Herah.
“Last night, it took some time until I got in my room. So to get to compete, my recovery was short. I tried to get in some energy but it was just to qualify for the semifinal.”
While the 100m sweep was the first time a nation had swept the medals in the women’s 100m at the worlds, the trio have a good chance of repeating that in the 200m and it will be up to their rivals to up their performances.
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, the reigning world 200m champion who was fourth in the 100m, poses a real threat, while the American trio of Tamara Clark, Jenna Prandini and Abby Steiner could also push for podium spots should they safely negotiate the semi-finals.
Another dark horse could be Namibia’s Beatrice Masilingi, who finished sixth in the Tokyo Olympics final.
“The target is to go through every round that I can,” said the 19-year-old Namibian, who is unable to compete at certain events due to controversial rules over testosterone levels.
“So I am going to take everything step by step now. My team mates definitely expect me to do great and to reach the finals, maybe even to fight for medals, but at the end of the day, I am just going to do what I can.”
