World Champs: Three Jamaicans through to women’s 400m semis Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

Jamaica will have three women in the semifinals of the 400m of the 2022 World Athletics Championships when they line up on Wednesday in Eugene, Oregon.

The trio is led by the veteran Stephenie Ann McPherson of MVP Track and Field Club, who qualified with the fastest time overall.

Drawn in heat two, the 33-year-old 2022 World Indoor bronze medallist ran a controlled race to win in 50.15s. Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek was second in 50.21s with third going to Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands in a national record of 50.24.

Fast-running Stephenie Ann McPherson in one of the 400m heats at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. (Photo: Marlon Reid)

Also through to the semis is Charokee Young, who made it through as one of six fastest non-automatic qualifiers. The fastest Jamaican woman over the distance this year and the second fastest in the world going into the championships with 49.87s, Young clocked 51.85s in heat 3 while running out of lane four. Her time in the heat makes her the 19th fastest of the semi-finalists.

The former Hydel High athlete ran 49.87s in April while representing Texas A&M University in the 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She was the overall silver medallist at the end of a very long season and entered the Oregon22 championships with high expectations to medal.

Jamaica’s Charokee Young (right) finishes fourth in her 400m heat at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. Sada Williams (third right) of Barbados won the race in a time of 51.05. (Photo: Marlon Reid)

Some analysts are worried though, that she, and others like her, may be feeling the effects of the long NCAA season.

Meanwhile, the fifth-placed finalist from the Tokoyo Olympics, Candice McLeod, also punched her ticket to the semis.

Drawn in the tight lane one in the sixth and final heat, McLeod came off the final bend in front and slowed down considerably as she approached the finish line where she was out-leaned by Poland’s Anna Kielbasinka who won in 50.63s.

McLeod was second in 50.76s, the sixth fastest of all the qualifiers, while Great Britain’s Victoria Ohuruogu was third in 51.07s.

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