If there was a point to be made in the heats of the 100 metres, Justin Gatlin made it on the opening night of the World Championships in Beijing as he ran comfortably the fastest time to qualify for the semi-finals. The real work takes place on Sunday.
Gatlin blitzed his heat in a wind-assisted 9.83sec, although he was easing down from some way out. Usain Bolt was fifth fastest, in 9.96, although he can improve on a sluggish start and he was not even trying to hit top gear as he edged past Mike Rodgers and kept a slender lead to the line in his heat.
In between the two favourites were Trayvon Bromell, the young American hope, Jimmy Vicaut and Asafa Powell, who must all have hopes of a medal.
“Bolt did the same thing in 2012,” Gatlin said. “He raced slower in the first round, picked it up in the semis and crushed it in the final. I went out there and ran the first half of my race really well. I feel good.”
The way Bolt cruised past a serious operator like Rodgers was a sign that Bolt had a lot left to give and it was hardly an evening to start panicking.
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“It wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be, but I wasn’t expecting the first one to be great,” Bolt said. “I wasn’t trying to run fast. I wanted to save as much energy as possible. I am in wonderful shape.”
It has been a poor season for James Dasaolu and that got worse as he failed to make it through the heats of the 100 metres. He led early on, but faded dramatically to finish in 10.13 in fourth place in his heat – outside the automatic qualifying places and the fourth fastest loser, when three went through.
Richard Kilty ran 10.12, which was good enough to earn him a place in the semi-finals, while CJ Ujah looked impressive, as he eased down to finish second in his heat in 10.05.
“I wanted to come here and get the first round done and then move on until tomorrow,” Ujah said. “When you are ready you are ready. It’s tough to wait. But you have to wait for the right day. Tomorrow I will bring that. I am not too happy with the start, but these things happen. I will have to sharpen up.”
Nick Miller needed only one attempt to qualify for Sunday’s hammer final, as the 22-year-old’s opening throw of 77.42 was the first of only two throwers to go past the automatic qualifying mark of 77 metres. It was only 13cm short of the British record that Miller set last month in Sweden.
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“Today went well, it was exactly what I needed to do, just the same as I have been doing in training all week,” Miller said. “I’m very happy, I try not to think about too much, and now everything matters tomorrow. I don’t really look around too much in this kind of thing. I’m like in training and I look at the floor, so it feels the same to me.”
Mark Dry failed to make it through to the final, despite a respectable throw of 73.87, which left him in 15th place.
Laura Muir and Laura Weightman both made it through to the semi-finals of the 1,500 metres, but it was a less than comfortable experience for Weightman, who tripped just after she crossed the line and faceplanted into the track.
It happened so quickly that she did not have time to break her fall and, for a moment, she laid still and seemed to have knocked herself out. After a few seconds she got to her feet, however, and walked off to receive treatment.
With six to qualify from each heat plus the next six fastest, reaching the semi-finals had been more straightforward. Muir finished second in her heat in 2:05.53, Weightman eased down for sixth in her heat in 2:06.13.
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There was disappointment in the men’s 800 metres, though, as both Michael Rimmer and Kyle Langford failed to make the semi-finals.
Niall Flannery ran a season’s best of 48.90 as he comfortably made it through to the semi-finals of the 400 metres hurdles by finishing second in his heat. He is the only British competitor in the event after Jack Green’s withdrawal after an attack of sciatica. Steven Lewis did not progress in the pole vault after failing to clear 5.55.
Ghirmay Ghebreslassie became Eritrea’s first world champion as the big names fell away in the men’s marathon, allowing the 19-year-old to press on in the morning heat. Yemane Tsegay, of Ethiopia, was second, 40 seconds behind, with Munyo Mutai, of Uganda, collecting the bronze medal.
The first women’s gold medal of the Championships went in the shot putt to Christina Schwanitz, whose throw of 20.37 was 7cm beyond the best effort of Lijiao Gong, of China, with Michelle Carter, of the United States, claiming the bronze.