TOKYO, Japan — Antigua and Barbuda sprinter Joella Lloyd and Amya Clarke from Saint Kitts and Nevis were both among the qualifiers to the heats of the women’s 100 meters on the first day of track and field action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday.
Lloyd captured the three and final preliminary round with a time of 11.55 seconds, which is the third quickest from the round.
The University of Tennessee representative entered the early round with the fastest time of 11.19s so she will be hoping to run close to that mark when she lines up in the heats later on in the day.
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Meanwhile, Clarke qualified with the fourth-best time in the morning session shakeout run, posting 11.67s when finishing third in the first preliminary round heat.
Winning that race and with the best time overall was Natacha Ngoye Akamabi of the Republic of Congo in 11.47s. Maggie Barrie of Sierra Leone also looked proper when finishing second in 11.53s.
Nine personal bests and three national records were set during the preliminary round heats this morning.
A total of 10 sprinters advanced to join the likes of Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Shericka Jackson, Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, Ivory Coast Marie Josee Ta Lou, and Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria in the first round heats.
The women’s 100m heats will take place at 12:15 p.m. Friday morning Tokyo time, 11:15 pm ET on Thursday night.
Click here for the complete heat results
