Javon Francis will be looking to run low 44 seconds in the semifinal of the 400 metres on Saturday, which he believes will be good enough to carry him into the final of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, later in the evening.
Francis placed third in his preliminary round on Friday, with a time of 45.88 seconds to advance to the semifinal, however, he has been placed in a tough semifinal with some of the leading 400 metres runners in the world.
He said, “I believe what can get me into the final is 44.1 or 44.2 so I am going to try my best and make it to the final. I think I am ready. I am in a great shape so I plan to just go out there and execute my race properly.”
According to Francis, he was just trying to qualify for the next round while running his preliminary round race, after going out slowly and had to produce a strong finish to advance, even though he was tempted to follow 2015 Beijing World Championships gold medal winner Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa.
“I just stayed focussed and not panic. One of the time, going through my mind, I should go with him same way and then I said ‘no, I am just going to run my own race. This is not the final,’” he said.
He said he is still learning the sport. “Every I run against the veterans in the sport, I learn the 400 metre. The more time I run it the better I learn it,” Francis said.