The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH history being made by Nigeria’s new world record holder Tobi Amusan in the middle of the race, Bahamian national record holder Devynne Charlton slipped down the stretch on the outside for seventh place in the final of the women’s 100 metres hurdles at the World Championships.

Charlton, running out of lane eight next to Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in seven, got out to a great start, but with the final three of the 10 flights of hurdles left in Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, she lost her technique in the race and a podium spot slipped away from her.

At the finish line, the 26-year-old Charlton had to settle for a time of 12.53, leaving former world champion Kendra Harrison in last place after she got disqualified when she clipped one of her final three hurdles.

By then, Amusan had already surged through the line in a wind-aided 12.06 for the first medal for the African nation in the event that saw Jamaican Britany Anderson secure the silver in 12.23 in a photo finish with Camacho-Quinn, who had to hold onto the bronze.

With a national record breaking performance of 12.40, Charlton powered her way into the final during the semifinal earlier in the evening after she picked up a second place finish behind American Alia Armstrong, who won the heat in a lifetime best of 12.43.

Amusan, however, clocked 12.12 for the world record, erasing Harrison’s previous mark of 12.20 from July 22, 2016 at the Olympic Games in London, England. Harrison had to settle for second behind Amusan in the heat in a season’s best of 12.27.

They were the top two qualifiers for the final, while Charlton went in with the seventh best time. Charlton also had the seventh best personal best by all of the competitors in the final, which made it even more difficult for her to get on the podium out of lane eight. Charlton came into the championships having won a silver medal at the World Indoors in Belgrade, Serbia, in the 60m hurdles in 7.81 after she made her debut in 2018 in Birmingham, Great Britain. She was sixth in her first Olympic appearance in Tokyo, Japan after she qualified, but had to sit out of competition in the games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.

In the heats on Saturday, Charlton raced to a second place finish in her heat in 12.69 to trail Camacho-Quinn, the winner in 12.52. While Camacho-Quinn had the third fastest qualifying time, Charlton was pegged at number seven. But after being denied a medal at the championships, Charlton is now expected to head to Birmingham, England, this week where she hopes to redeem herself at the Commonwealth Games that will be staged from July 27 to August 7.