EUGENE — Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell entered the World Athletics Championships as two of the top four sprinters on the planet, and the American duo led the way during Friday’s opening heats in the men’s 100 meters.
Kerley and Bromell finished in 9.79 and 9.89 seconds, respectively, to win their heats at Hayward Field and lead the 24-man field to advance to Saturday night’s semifinals.
“(Kerley) is running out of his mind right now,” said American Marvin Bracy, who won the first heat in 10.05 seconds. “He did the same thing at USAs. We expect fireworks from him, especially early on. He’s a guy that likes to come out and make a statement early.”
Kerley, who declined interviews afterward, won the second heat, which had four of the top eight times Friday night, including three sub-10 seconds. Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (9.97 seconds) and Liberia’s Emmanuel Matadi (9.99) came in second and third in that heat.
After arriving in Eugene less than three hours before the first of seven heats began, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala finished the final heat in third place in 10.10 seconds to advance as well.
Omanyala’s visa was held up until Thursday when he began traveling 20 hours via three flights — from Nairobi to Doha, Qatar, to Seattle, and finally Eugene — arriving shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday with the 100-meter heats beginning at 6:50 p.m. and his race at 7:32 p.m.
“It was disappointing,” Omanyala said. “You have to put the challenges aside and because you have to come here and run. … When I get to track, I forget about everything. The main thing was to get to the semifinals, doesn’t matter how, but that’s what I did.”
Omanyala said he slept during a six-hour layover in Doha and on the 14-hour flight to Seattle, but staying loose aboard the planes wasn’t easy. He wasn’t even sure what time it felt like after the race.
“I was in business class, so that really helped,” Omanyala said with a laugh. “If I had been in economy class, I don’t know if I could be here. … I really hope I get an airline sponsorship. Qatar Airways did a good job; they upgraded me, so shout out to them.”
He thanked Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and sports minister Amina Mohamed for their assistance in getting his visa approved in time and is looking forward to a night of rest before vying for a spot in the 100 final and a possible medal.
“I need that rest for tomorrow’s semifinals because I felt a little bit of tiredness,” Omanyala said. “I never knew I was tired until I ran that race. I was feeling my muscles were cramping and (I’ll) get some massage and rest, and then hopefully tomorrow be better.”
There weren’t any major surprises among the field to advance to the semifinals, with No. 11 ranked sprinter Reece Prescod of Great Britain narrowly missing the cut in 10.15 seconds, tied with China’s Bingtian Su, who received the final at-large spot in the semifinals.
Jamaica’s Oblique Seville won the fourth heat in 9.93 seconds, edging No. 3 ranked sprinter and reigning Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy in 10.04 seconds.
Letsile Tebogo, 19, of Botswana won the fifth heat in 9.94 seconds, a world under-20 record.
American Christian Coleman won the sixth heat in 10.08 seconds and Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ran a season-best 9.98 seconds to win the eighth heat over New Zealand’s Edward Osei-Nketia (10.08) and Omanyala.
