There were no surprises for Team Jamaica as Tia Clayton, Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce all qualified for the semi-final round after safe heats in the women’s 100-metre dash at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Saturday (September 13).

American sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, however, reminded everyone why she is the woman to beat after a sporty 10.99 seconds to win Heat 1. Running out of lane six, this year’s world leader ran a composed race to claim one of three automatic qualification spots ahead of New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.16s) and Géraldine Frey of Switzerland (11.25s).

Jamaican national champion Tina Clayton dominated Heat 2 with a business-like 11.01s sprint, crossing the tape first with Britain’s Dina Asher Smith (11.07s) and Eva Swoboda (11.18s) in tow as guaranteed qualifiers.

Stopping the clock in a season’s best effort of 11.03s, defending world champion Sha’Carri Richardson was back to winning ways following her razor-edge victory in Heat 3 over Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson (11.04s) and Australian Torrie Lewis (11.08s), who ran a national record to claim third and an automatic place in the semi-finals.

Olympic champion Julien Alfred sounded warning shots of her own with the round’s best effort in Heat 4. The St Lucian barely seemed fazed and dominated from start to finish, running out of lane four to clock 10.94 seconds ahead of Suisse Salomé Kora (11.23s) and Canada’s Audrey Leduc (11.26s).

Seasoned British sprinter Daryll Neita has seemingly peaked at the right time, posting a season’s best 10.94s to win Heat 5 over Twanisha Terry (11.06s) and Liberia’s Thelma Davies (11.12s).

Italy’s Zaynab Dosso took Heat 6 in a winning time of 11.10s ahead of Briton Amy Hunt (11.13s) and the US’ Kayla Hunt (11.16s).

Doing just enough to cross the finish line in 11.05s, Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith edged Jamaican icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (11.09s) and Liranyi Alonso of the Dominican Republic (11.26s).

Germany’s Gina Lückenkemper (11.12s), Boglárka Takács from Hungary (11.12s), and Bahamian Anthaya Charlton (11.18s) secured the three non-automatic qualification spots for the semi-finals, which kick off on Sunday.