Day two proved to be bittersweet for Jamaica. While Ackelia Smith was the lone finalist starting the day, there was high expectancy that some of the 100m sprinters would join her after the semifinals. They did get to the final, but were unable to deliver a medal on the day.
Ryiem Forde, with a new personal best of 9.95 and Oblique Seville with 9.90, marched into the final with high hopes. National champion Rohan Watson did not survive his semifinal as he posted only 10.07 to finish sixth.
The final was a close affair with 0.05 separating first from fourth, with Seville unfortunately finishing in fourth with 9.88, the same as silver medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and bronze medalist Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain. Forde finished in 8th with 10.08. The gold medal went to American Noah Lyles with a world leading 9.83.
The aforementioned Smith could not repeat the heroics of the day before and finished 11th in the women’s long jump final with 6.51m.
Candice McLeod (50.37) Nickiesha Pryce (50.21) and Charokee Young (50.45) advanced to the semifinals of the 400m. The male quartermilers were equally effective with Sean Bailey posting 44.43, Antonio Watson 44.54 and Zandrion Barnes with a PB 44.90, got into the semifinals.
Qualification for the women in the 100m was as easy as 1234, with defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 11.01, Shericka Jackson 11.03, Sashalee Forbes 11.12, Natasha Morrison 11.02 all advancing to Monday’s semifinals.
Hansle Parchment 13.30 and Orlando Bennett 13.39 qualified for the semifinals of the 110m hurdles. However, one of the favourites, Rasheed Broadbell, made his mistake and fell.
Romaine Beckford finished 22nd overall with 2.22m in the men’s high jump.