Jamaican Olympic Trials began on Thursday night with Texas Longhorn Senoj-Jay Givans advancing out of the first round and tying a legend in his event during in the prelims.
Givans clocked in at 10.16 seconds in the first round of the 100 meters to finish second in his heat and automatically qualify for the semifinals on Friday. Givans edged legendary runner Asafa Powell in his heat by .01 with Powell taking third and still advancing to the semifinals.
With his time of 10.16, Givans posted the No. 4 time of the prelims. World-record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Both ran 10.15 in his preliminary heat.
“Senoj-Jay’s execution of his race was outstanding this evening,” said Assistant Coach Seth Henson, who is in Jamaica for the Trials. “Coach Tonja Buford-Bailey has done a tremendous job getting him ready for the championship portion of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing him race and getting back to work tomorrow.”
Friday’s men’s 100 meter semifinals are slated to begin at 7:12 p.m. local time in Kingston, Jamaica. If Givans advances to the final, that will be contested at 9:15 p.m. One other Longhorn will be in action. Chrisann Gordon will run the first round of the women’s 400 meters at 5:45 p.m.
