Melissa Bishop on to the 800m semifinal at IAAF World Championships
The Canadian medal hopeful looked strong in her first qualifying race; she will not have to face Caster Semenya until the final
One of Canada’s best hopes for a medal in London is off to a strong start.
Melissa Bishop controlled the pace for much of her preliminary round heat in the 800m, finishing in second in a comfortable 2:01.11. The top three from each of the six heats automatically advanced to the semifinal.
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Bishop enters the IAAF World Championships as the reigning silver medallist. But the 29 year old finished a disappointing fourth in last year’s Olympics. Ahead of her were three athletes who have come under scrutiny for high testosterone levels, including Caster Semenya, who is at the centre of all the controversy regarding intersex athletes.
.@BishopMelissa is through to the 800m semis, controlled race, takes 2nd in 2:01.11 #IAAFWorlds pic.twitter.com/TbRYcuJrOI
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 10, 2017
Bishop has been relatively quiet about the debate, which has been raging since Semenya burst onto the scene at the 2009 World Championships, winning in 1:55.45, one of the fastest times in history. Since then, Semenya was forced to take a sex verification test and temporarily blocked from competing. After being reinstated to compete by an arbitrator, Semenya has been unbeatable.
Bishop told the CBC in a mini-documentary that fourth place is not an option at this stage in her career.
She is on track to do something special in London, moving smoothly through the first 200m of her heat, with the rest of the field keying off her strong initial move to the front.
Bishop almost looked like she was going to take a nasty fall in the first lap, when Britain’s Shelayne Oskan-Clarke appeared to catch the back of Bishop’s foot from behind. But the Canadian regained her balance, before being cut off by Spain’s Esther Guerrero.
At the 400m mark, Bishop put on the jets, blowing past Guerrero and showing her world class endurance, securing a comfortable spot in order to qualify for the next round. She was only bested by a sprinting Angelika Cichocka of Poland. But that didn’t really matter, as Bishop knew she was in a good spot and didn’t waste any unnecessary energy.
But Bishop will no doubt face the same scenario she did last year in Rio in order to get on the podium. All three medallists, Francine Niyonsaba, Margaret Wambui and Caster Semenya all looked just as good as Bishop in their respective heats, qualifying easily.
Bishop draws heat #1 on Friday evening (7:35 London time; 1:35 p.m. EDT). Her heat features top American runner Ajee Wilson and Cuba’s Rose Almanza, but she will not have to face the aforementioned trio until the final, if she qualifies as expected.
The complete list of semifinal heats:
HEAT 1 11 AUG 2017 19:35
ORDER / LANE | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | SB 2017 | PB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 4245 | Hanna HERMANSSON | SWE | 2:00.94 | 2:00.94 |
3 | 3667 | Noélie YARIGO | BEN | 2:00.99 | 1:59.12 |
4 | 4380 | Ajee WILSON | USA | 1:55.61 | 1:55.61 |
5 | 3837 | Habitam ALEMU | 1:58.92 | 1:58.92 | |
6 | 3784 | Rose Mary ALMANZA | 1:59.11 | 1:57.70 | |
7 | 3719 | Melissa BISHOP | 1:57.01 | 1:57.01 | |
8 | 4154 | Hedda HYNNE | 1:59.87 | 1:59.87 | |
9 | 3914 | Adelle TRACEY | 2:00.28 | 2:00.28 |
HEAT 2 11 AUG 2017 19:45
ORDER / LANE | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | SB 2017 | PB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 4100 | Egle BALCIÜNAITÉ | 2:01.21 | 1:59.29 | |
3 | 4166 | Angelika CICHOCKA | 2:00.86 | 1:58.97 | |
4 | 4227 | Selina BÃœCHEL | 1:59.46 | 1:57.95 | |
5 | 3911 | Lynsey SHARP | 1:58.01 | 1:57.69 | |
6 | 4209 | Caster SEMENYA | 1:55.27 | 1:55.27 | |
7 | 4350 | Charlene LIPSEY | 1:57.38 | 1:57.38 | |
8 | 4275 | Docus AJOK | 2:00.79 | 2:00.79 | |
9 | 4135 | Sanne VERSTEGEN | 1:59.55 | 1:59.55 |
HEAT 3 11 AUG 2017 19:55
ORDER / LANE | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | SB 2017 | PB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 4281 | Halima NAKAAYI | 2:00.80 | 1:59.78 | |
3 | 4205 | Gena LÖFSTRAND | 2:01.50 | 2:01.50 | |
4 | 4354 | Brenda MARTINEZ | 1:58.43 | 1:57.91 | |
5 | 3660 | Francine NIYONSABA | 1:55.47 | 1:55.47 | |
6 | 4174 | Joanna JÓZWIK | 1:59.29i | 1:57.37 | |
7 | 4090 | Margaret Nyairera WAMBUI | 1:57.03 | 1:56.89 | |
8 | 3904 | Shelayna OSKAN-CLARKE | 1:59.82 | 1:58.86 | |
9 | 3932 | Christina HERING | 2:00.77 | 1:59.54 |