Fresh from intense training in Los Angeles, USA, Sri Lankan star Susanthika Jayasinghe will battle it out in the shorter sprint heat of the World Athletic Championships in Osaka, Japan at 8.10 am local time in order to earn a place in the quarter-finals scheduled for this evening.
Jayasinghe who will run in lane four, has the third fastest qualifying timing in heat one, 11.25 seconds, and earning a place among the best 32 wouldn’t be a too much of a problem for the celebrated sprinter.
Her biggest challenge would initially come from Carmelita Jeter, an American who has a seasonal best time of 11.05 seconds and Kim Gevaert of Belgium who has a seasonal best time of 11.13 seconds. Interestingly, Merlene Ottey, 47, who won the bronze medal in the 200m dash at the 1997 championships behind Jayasinghe, will compete alongside Jayasinghe in the first heat.
If Jayasinghe qualifies for the second round, she would be in action at 17.05 local time to book her berth in the semi-finals, scheduled for tomorrow, 16.30 local time.
Reports from Japan says Jayasinghe is in high spirits ahead of today’s curtain raiser and may pull off a surprise win in the longer sprint, 200m, for which she has won a silver Ten years back.
Jayasinghe initially entered the 200m dash where she clocked 22.39 seconds during the 6th World Championships in athletics in Athens but decided to compete in the shorter sprint following her impressive run at the Asian Championships.
“The conditions are close-to-a-home feeling,” Jayasinghe was quoted as saying following a training session ahead of today’s 100m dash.
Jamaican Veronica Campbell, the world leader with a forget-me-not effort of 10.89 will be front-runner for the World’s Fastest Woman tag followed by Christine Arron (11.06 seasonal best(SB), Debbie Ferguson of Bahamas (11.12 SB), Kerron Stewart of Jamaica (11.03 SB), Chandra Sturrup Bahamas (11.18 SB), Uzbekistani Guzel Khubbieva (11.20 SB), Lauryn Williams of USA (11.11 SB) and the American Torri Edwards, the second fastest seasonal timing of 10.90 seconds.
But Jayasinghe who pulled off a gold double during the recent Asian Championships in July vowed to make a good come-back in Osaka.
The semi-finals and final are scheduled for Monday, 16.30 and 18.50 respectively.
Meanwhile Jayasinghe will compete in the 200m dash on Wednesday at 7.10 local time and if she qualifies will battle it out in the quarter finals at 16.10 local time on the same day. The semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday at 18.30 while the final is on Friday 17.45.
Jayasinghe who clocked a personal best 22.28 seconds in 2000 for her Olympic bronze in Sydney has a seasonal best of 22.99 seconds.
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