Jamaican Trio Qualifies for Men’s 100m Semi-Finals in Paris

All three Jamaican sprinters in the men’s 100m secured automatic qualification for the semi-finals on Sunday at the Paris Olympic Games. Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson each won their first-round heats, clocking 9.99 seconds (0.0m/s) and 10.00 seconds (0.6m/s) respectively, while Ackeem Blake finished second in his heat with a time of 10.06 seconds (-1.1m/s).

Seville, aiming for redemption after consecutive fourth-place finishes at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, edged out Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who ran 10.02 seconds for second place. Thompson, competing in his 11th professional race, outpaced Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati (10.08 seconds) and Cuba’s Reynaldo Espinoza (10.11 seconds). However, the start of Thompson’s race was delayed due to a false start protest by Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu, who had to be escorted off the track, and Thompson received a green card after a loud shout at the starting blocks.

Blake, the World Indoors 60m bronze medallist, led most of his race before being overtaken at the line by South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who finished in 10.03 seconds. Rikkoi Brathwaite of the British Virgin Islands also qualified with 10.13 seconds.

Other notable qualifiers include American Noah Lyles, the reigning 100m world champion, who finished second in his heat with 10.04 seconds. Defending Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs advanced with 10.05 seconds, while Zharnel Hughes clocked 10.03 seconds. Former World Champion Fred Kerley and his American teammate Kenny Bednarek led the qualifiers with 9.97 seconds, alongside Great Britain’s NCAA champion Louie Hinchliffe (9.98 seconds) and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (9.98 seconds).