Jamaicans Ronald Levy, Damion Thomas and Hansle Parchment have all gone through to the semi-finals of the men’s 110 metres hurdles after competing in the heat stages of the Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan on Tuesday (August 3).

Levy, the national champion, stamped his class in Heat One with a sporty time of 13.17 seconds to claim first place. He was the only Jamaican winner in the heats, finishing ahead of automatic qualifiers Jason Joseph of Switzerland (13.31s), Hungarian Valdó Szűcs (13.50s) and Andrew Pozzi 13.50s) of the United Kingdom.

Thomas, stopping the clock in 13.54s, finished third in Heat Two, behind Spaniard Asier Martínez (13.32s) and American Daniel Roberts (13.41s). Milan Trajkovic of Cyprus claimed the fourth and final automatic qualification spot in 13.59s. Barbadian athlete Shane Brathwaite was eliminated after a sixth-place finish.

Hansel Parchment, competing in Heat Three, had to settle for second behind world leader Grant Holloway of the United States, who won in 13.02s. Parchment finished in 13.23s, ahead of Australia’s Nicholas Hough (13.57s) and Damian Czykier of Poland (13.61s).

In a shocking twist, Spanish medal favourite Orlando Ortega and decorated Russian athlete Sergey Shubenkov did not get into the starting blocks.

Next for the Jamaicans are the semi-finals, which get underway at 9:00 pm local time tonight.

Levy contests semi-final one against Martínez, Thomas takes semi-final two with American Devon Allen, while Parchment again challenges Holloway in semi-final three.