Briton Lynsey Sharp, ranked fourth in the world of those competing in Doha, out of 800m
Friday 27 September 2019 21:34, UK
Great Britain's Zharnel Hughes powered into the 100 metres semi-finals at the World Championships as Christian Coleman sent out a gold medal warning.
European champion Hughes won his heat in 10.08 seconds to comfortably go through on the opening day in Doha on Friday.
Coleman was the only man to go under 10 seconds as the American clocked 9.98secs in the final heat to underline his status as favourite.
They were joined in Saturday's semis by Adam Gemili, who came third in his heat, while defending champion Justin Gatlin, Andre De Grasse and Yohan Blake all eased through.
Hughes is a medal contender at the Khalifa International Stadium and could land Great Britain's 100th World Championship medal in Saturday's final.
I'm feeling well. As long as I get it together I know I'll be fine.
GB team-mate Ojie Edoburun ran 10.23s in the first heat, coming fifth, but qualified as the final fastest loser.
But it was Coleman in the final heat who looked most impressive.
The American, the fastest man in the world this year, arrived under a cloud, having initially been charged with missing three drugs tests - known as whereabouts failures - in 12 months, a claim he contested.
It carried an automatic one-year ban, but the United States Anti-Doping Agency withdrew the charge after guidance from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Lord Coe, president of athletics' world governing body the IAAF, also defended Coleman after criticism from Michael Johnson.
I am pleased Coleman is here and I want to make sure he is given every opportunity to be one of the faces of these championships.
"I am pleased Coleman is here and I want to make sure he is given every opportunity to be one of the faces of these championships," said Coe.
"We have to be very careful not to play fast and loose with the reputation of athletes."
It was a low-key opening to the championships, with the stadium barely half full and a top tier completely closed.
The official attendance was confirmed by the IAAF as 11,804 ticket-holders, plus 1,484 guests.
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke, the first British athlete to compete in Doha, reached Saturday's 800m semi-finals by finishing second in her heat.
She ran 2:02.09 behind American Raevyn Rogers and was joined in the next round by GB team-mate Alex Bell.
But Lynsey Sharp, considered a medal contender with defending champion Caster Semenya missing, surprisingly crashed out after coming fourth in her heat.
Holly Bradshaw reached the pole vault final with a first-time clearance of 4.60m, but Morgan Lake failed to progress in high jump qualification.
Andy Butchart squeezed into the 5,000m final after Norway's 19-year-old European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen - one of the favourites for a medal - was disqualified for stepping off the track, with the Scot having initially missed out on a spot by one place.
Chris McAlister also reached the 400m hurdles semi-final after coming fourth in his heat.
The 2019 World Athletics Championships are under way in Qatar. Ten days of competition where we will find out whether the tiny Gulf state can organise a global sporting event and whether the climate will play a significant role.
Tonight the first of the Brits to take to the track in the Khalifa Stadium were the women's 800m runners, both Shelayna Oksan-Clarke and Alexandra Bell progressed to the semi-finals. Both spoke of being pretty impressed with conditions inside the stadium, with its state of the art air conditioning system lowering heat and humidity trackside. When the 800m track events began, outside the stadium the temperature was 36 degrees Celsius, inside it was feeling a good 10 degrees cooler.
Sprinters Yohan Blake and Justin Gatlin both gave a thumbs up to the air conditioning. Jamaican Blake, the 2011 World 100m champion joked that the warm-up area was ironically too cold!
It's slightly odd to walk no more than 80 metres while still standing 'outside' yet the temperature has gone from very hot and very sweaty to rather pleasant conditions!
So who will be the new king of men's sprinting now Usain Bolt has retired? We got a first look at Christian Coleman, the American adamant that his missed 'Whereabouts Rule' doping tests were just a honest mistake and that's he's a clean athlete who's just very quick. On tonight's evidence where Coleman ran 9.98 seconds with utter ease, it's going to be tough to see who else could deprive him of gold.
All three British 100m sprinters made it through to the semi-finals, Zharnel Hughes the most impressive winning his heat in 10.08 seconds and he looked to ease off in the final few metres.
Former Sky Scholar Holly Bradshaw made light work of pole vault qualification, with her first attempt clearing 4.60m. She now has a day off tomorrow ahead of Sunday's final where she has a genuine chance of a medal. Bradshaw also thought the conditions for her were perfect saying she thought she was indoors, good temperature, no wind. For so many athletes part of the competition is mental and Bradshaw said after tonight's vault that she's never felt so good and now clearly delights in the conditions inside the Khalifa Stadium.
