By Noel Francis
Tokyo, Japan – All three of Jamaica’s male sprint hurdlers advanced to the semi-finals with impressive outings in the 110m Hurdles heats on Day Three of the World Athletics Championships.
Orlando Bennett, now the elder statesman in the absence of Rasheed Broadbell, was looking forward to making his first World Championship final after winning his heat in 13.20 seconds (-0.6 m/s). “It was a good race,” said Bennett. “Tomorrow, I hope to feel that same momentum and get into the finals. The aim is to make the final and the podium.”
Newcomer DeMario Prince finished a close fourth in his heat in 13.31 seconds. “I just got the jitters off, not the most technical race I’ve run, as I’ve been working on my start in training, trying to get it perfect. The environment has been great, Team Jamaica has a great camp, it’s just to come out here and execute and make the country proud,” said the 20-year-old.
Jamaica’s third entrant, Tyler Mason, was a surprised winner in his heat, registering a season’s best of 13.17 seconds (-0.3 m/s). “It was all about execution tonight,” said Mason, who was competing at his first senior global championship.
“The aim is to go through the rounds. I’m feeling good; the greatest thing is that I’m injury-free.”
Following in Mason’s wake was Olympic and three-time world champion Grant Holloway, who received a scare as he finished fourth in 13.27 seconds. Japan’s Rachid Muratake had the home crowd in a frenzy as he finished strong to take second in 13.22 seconds. China’s Junxi Liu ran a personal best of 13.23 seconds for third place.