British trio progress in 200m but Jackson withdraws

Great Britain’s Daryll Neita, Dina Asher-Smith and Bianca Williams reached the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at Paris 2024, after world champion Shericka Jackson withdrew.

Neita finished an agonising four-hundredths of a second off the 100m podium in fourth on Saturday, as St Lucia’s Julien Alfred won gold.

The 27-year-old was a clear winner on her return to the Stade de France track, clocking 22.39 seconds.

Asher-Smith, bitterly disappointed not to make the 100m final, ran 22.28 for second in her heat behind Nigeria’s Favour Ofili, while team-mate Williams qualified in 22.77.

An emotional Asher-Smith told BBC Sport: “I’m just angry from yesterday to be honest. I was angry but coming down the home straight I was like ‘relax, relax’.

“Yeah, I’m very upset,” the 2019 world 200m champion added.

Jamaican Jackson withdrew from the 100m to focus on the 200m, in which she is the two-time reigning world champion, but did not line up on Sunday morning.

Jackson’s withdrawal from the competition means American Gabrielle Thomas, the fastest woman in the 200m this year, is the gold-medal favourite in the event.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Thomas, 27, took world silver behind Jackson last year and began her campaign in Paris by setting the fastest time of round one in 22.20.

Less than 14 hours after celebrating a historic gold, Alfred, St Lucia’s first Olympic medallist, returned for the opening 200m heat and took another victory in 22.41.

Just as Jamaican sprint icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal on Saturday left the race for the 100m medals wide open, so to has Jackson’s decision not to participate in the 200m.

Reigning champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, of Jamaica, had been ruled out of defending her two sprint titles in Paris because of an Achilles tendon injury.

After her near-miss in the 100m in pursuit of a first individual global medal, Neita refocused to make a confident start to her 200m bid as she cruised to victory.

“It feels like I went to sleep here [at the track] last night. It has been a quick turnaround,” Neita told BBC Sport.

“Fourth was so bittersweet. I’ve had a little sleep on it and honestly I’m really proud of myself. It gives me so much confidence and a lot of motivation going into tomorrow.”

Lina Nielsen qualified for the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals but Jessie Knight must go through a repechage round.

Nielsen finished second in 54.65 seconds in her heat, while Knight finished fifth (55.39) in a race won by Femke Bol (53.38), whose sensational sprint finish secured mixed 4x400m relay gold for the Netherlands on Saturday.

American defending champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone claimed a comfortable victory in 53.60 in the final heat to move closer to an anticipated gold-medal showdown with Bol.

Great Britain’s Elizabeth Bird qualified for the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final by finishing fourth in her heat in nine minutes 16.46 seconds, but Aimee Pratt missed out.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes will contest the men’s long jump final after producing a best leap of 7.96m in qualifying, as defending champion Miltiadis Tentoglou led the standings with 8.32m.