Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde, Kemar Mowatt and Shawn Rowe all progressed to the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympic Games 400 metres men’s hurdles Friday morning (July 30) (Thursday night Jamaica time).

All three, with lane one empty, ran in lane four and looked comfortable in the races to finish in the top four of their respective heats, which ensured that they progressed to the next stage of the competition. The semi-finals were completed by the next four fastest times.

Hyde was the top performer for Jamaica, as he won his heat, while Rowe ended third and Mowatt fourth.

Hyde, in Heat Two, was out the blocks in a hurry and quickly cut the stagger on his lane five opponent. He maintained the quick pace until the top of the homestretch, where he reduced speed as he had a considerable lead.

With approximately 50 metres left in the race, Kenneth Selmon of the United States of America joined him and Hyde did enough to ensure the victory in 48.54 seconds. Selmon was timed in 48.61 as Japan’s Hiromu Yamauchi finished third in 49.21.

Germany’s Constantin Preis completed the semi-finals qualifiers from that heat in 49.73.

Rowe, competing in Heat four of five, stayed with the leaders throughout the race and entered the homestretch third and easily maintained that position to the finish line, to advance to the semi-finals

Rowe did a season-best of 49.18 seconds as the race was won by Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands in 48.79 seconds with Yasmani Copello of Turkey getting second in 49.00. David Kendziera of the USA was fourth in 49.23 to get the last automatic qualifier.

In Heat One Mowatt did enough to advance as he was among the leaders in the early stages, but started to conserve energy and faded, before picking up the pace in the final stages to just finish in the top four and advance to the semi-finals.

The heat was won by Abderrahman Samba of Qatar in 48.38 seconds, with Alison dos Santos of Brazil second in 48.42, Abdelmalik Lahoulou of Algeria third in a season best of 48.83 and Mowatt fourth in 49.06.