Jamaica misses out on its first 100m men’s final without representation in over two decades as semi-finalists Oblique Seville and Yohan Blake were soundly beaten on Sunday (August 1) at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan.

Blake, contesting semi-final one, finished sixth in 10.14 seconds behind automatic qualifiers American athlete Fred Kerley (9.96s) and Canada’s Andre De Grasse.

Seville, a promising upstart under legendary coach Glen Mills, finished fourth in semi-final two in a time of 10.09s. It was a marginally better performance by the 20-year-old but his result was insufficient in the face of automatic qualifiers Zharnell Hughes (formerly of Anguilla) of the United Kingdom and Nigeria’s Enoch Adegoke.

American favourite Trayvon Brommel was edged out of the final by one-thousandth of a second by Adegoke.

The fireworks flew in semi-final three, however, which saw China’s Su Bingtian shattering the Asian record to post an impressive 9.83 seconds to enter the final as the man to beat.

Bingtian bested American Ronnie Baker and Italian Marcell Jacobs, who both clocked personal best times of 9.83s and 9.84s respectively.

It is the first time since the Sydney Olympic Games in Australia, and in the insurmountable shadow of sprint king Usain Bolt, that Jamaica does not have an athlete contesting the men’s 100m final.