Jonathan Jones is through to the semis of the men's 400m.
Jonathan Jones runs into the semis
In some hot conditions Barbados’ Jonathan Jones ran an impressive race to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 400m at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Jones, who was running in the outside lane, did not have anyone to gauge off of and had to stay disciplined in his race plan.
The stagger on him was never made up by the other athletes except one who came through with less than 150m left in the race.
It is never easy running in the outside lane, but for Jones he looks to record some of his best performances from that lane.
He finished second in the race with a season’s best time of 45.04 secs. The winner of the heat was Michael Chery from the USA in a time of 44.82 secs.
After the race Jones, who is making his debut at the Olympics and holds the current National 400m record of 44.63 secs, said he felt blessed to be at the Olympics, which is the pinnacle of any sporting discipline.
As he reflected on his race and the lane he was in Jones said that “Outside lanes aren’t anything new for me. All my best times were ran from outside lanes.”
However he didn’t go into the race unprepared as he had a plan, “I followed my race plan that my coach gave me, so I was focused on myself.”
As he heads into the semi-final, Jones said that he feels blessed to even be there, “having the opportunity to compete”.
Jones is scheduled to run in Semi-final 3 from Lane 5, which is scheduled for this morning at 7:21 a.m.
Also slated to be in action this morning is Tia-Adana Belle, who will compete in the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals. Belle, who ran a season’s best time of 55.69 secs in her round 1 heat, will be in Semi-Final 2 as the event will be contested immediately after the men’s 400m.
Belle has a personal best time of 54.18 secs in the women’s 400m hurdles and will be looking for a finals berth as she runs in the same heat as Sydney McLaughlin from the USA, who holds the No. 1 ranking in the event.
Yet to compete are Sada Williams in the women’s 400m and Shane Brathwaite in the men’s 110m hurdles. (CG)