Sprinters fail to fill Bolt’s 100m shoes

IF there is an obvious successor to Usain Bolt then he hid awfully well in the heats of the men’s 100m yesterday. Ahead of tonight’s semifinal and final, it is less a question of who will stand out and more one of when they might wake up.

Only Andre de Grasse made any kind of dent on the clock, with the Canadian’s time of 9.91sec making him the quickest of the qualifiers. As the 2016 bronze medallist and a winner of six other global medals, he has emerged as a contender again at the age of 26 after a number of underwhelming years.

But the rest faltered. The favourite, Trayvon Bromell of the US, who ran 9.77sec last month, only crept through as a fastest loser in 10.05sec. ‘Shoot,’ said Bromell, who finished fourth. ‘I was calm. It don’t look like I actually pushed myself and that is going to be the thing my coach is mad about.’

The three Brits, Reece Prescod, Zharnel Hughes and CJ Ujah, all progressed, though Prescod needed to be saved as a fastest loser after a run of 10.12sec left him fifth. He said: ‘10.12sec is a season’s best. To be contending for the medals I need to be going 9.9.’