Edidiong bows out of 100m semi-finals at worlds

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong bowed out from medal contention in the women’s 100m at the semi-final stage early yesterday morning at the World Athletics Championships 2022, being held in Eugene, Oregon, in the US. Running in the second of three heats in this stage of the competition, Edidiong finished eighth amongst the eight competitors to miss qualification. She posted a time of 11.56 seconds, which was slower than her mark from the firstround heats of 11.28s.

Winning the heat and advancing directly to the final was Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica in a lightning quick 10.82s. Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast was second in 10.87s to claim the other automatic final berth from the race, while Melissa Jefferson of the US came third and Mujinga Kambundji from Switzerland fourth—both of whom also advanced as fastest losers. Thompson-Herah went on to claim the 100m bronze medal in a Jamaican clean sweep of the podium.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the final in a championship record of 10.67s, while Shericka Jackson followed in 10.73s. Thompson-Herah came third in 10.81s. Edidiong now shifts her focus to the women’s 200m at the worlds. She was scheduled to begin her medal bid early today morning at 4am, Bahrain time, in the first-round heats.

Edidiong was set to compete in the first of six races, with only the top three from each race plus the six next fastest athletes moving on to the 200m semi-finals.

Among the other runners in her heat are Jackson, Olga Safronova from Kazakhstan, Jessica-Bianca Wessolly from Germany, Dalia Kaddari from Italy, Rosemary Chukwuma from Nigeria and Gabriela Anahi Suarez from Ecuador. Should Edidiong advance to the semis, they will be held early tomorrow morning, Bahrain time.

Also tomorrow, Bahrain’s Aminat Jamal is scheduled to begin her quest for a medal in the women’s 400m hurdles in the first-round heats. Then, early on Thursday morning, Bahraini star Winfred Yavi will be going for gold in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final. Bahrain are competing in the worlds with four athletes. Aside from Edidiong, Aminat and Winfred, Shumi Dechasa also flew the Kingdom’s flag in the men’s marathon held on Sunday, where he finished an impressive ninth overall.