Report27 Aug 2015


Report: men's 110m hurdles semi-finals – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

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Sergey Shubenkov and Hansle Parchment in the 110m hurdles semi-finals at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 (© Getty Images)

Following Wednesday's drama-filled first round heats, the semi-finals on Thursday night served up the two fastest World Championship semi-finals in the history of the event to perfectly set up what is likely to prove a fantastic final on Friday.

In the opening semi, the 2013 world bronze medallist and two-time European champion Sergey Shubenkov produced what at that point was the fastest semi-final performance in the history of the championships, the previous best having been 13.11, by completing his task in a swift 13.09.

The Russian, always a modicum of consistency at major championships, trailed quick-starting Shane Brathwaite from Barbados over the first two hurdles but emerged with a clear lead by the fifth hurdle.

He then neatly negotiated the remaining hurdles to stop the clock 0.03 shy of his national record.

Olympic bronze medallist Hansle Parchment from Jamaica recovered from the poorest reaction time of all nine hurdlers – it was nine because Czech Petr Svoboda was reinstated following a protest from the heats – to grab the second automatic qualification spot in 13.16. 

Garfield Darien of France took third in 13.25 – a time ultimately good enough to grab one of the crucial two non-automatic qualifying spots. American Aleec Harris was punished for a technically erratic display and had to settle for fourth in 13.29. Brathwaite, the early pacesetter, faded to fifth in 13.31.

In heat two, 2012 Olympic champion and world record-holder Aries Merritt then superceded Shubenkov's briefly-held status as the quickest ever semi-final performer at a world championship by producing his quickest performance since 2012 to stop the clock in 13.08.

A relaxed-looking Merritt, who smiled easily for the cameras at the start of the race, at last appears to be emerging from a difficult two-year period, when he was belatedly diagnosed with a debilitating kidney disease.

He quickly established the rhythm of the race with France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and Jamaica's Omar McLeod, in adjacent lanes, his nearest pursuers.

McLeod, the 2015 world number two on time, had made a technical hash of his heat and was continually striking hurdles in the semi-final. However, unlike in his heat, it did not appear to be hampering his speed to any great extent.

Merritt flashed past the line as the winner and it was McLeod, despite his technically far-from-perfect performance, who banked the second automatic qualification spot in 13.16 with Martinot-Lagarde  0.01 further back but earning the consolation of one of the two fastest non-automatic spots.

The final heat brought more French joy as heat winner Dimitri Bascou ensured three men from that nation will occupy a place in the final.

From the gun the race quickly settled down into a two-way battle between Bascou in lane six and defending champion David Oliver in lane four.

However, Bascou produced the cleaner race and was rewarded by pipping Oliver by 0.01 to win the third semi in 13.16, taking 0.07 from his personal best in the process.

The best of the rest was German Matthias Buchler, who equalled his personal best of 13.34, but did not go quick enough to advance.

Steve Landells for the IAAF

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