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Day Four: Ten-time national champ Wells lines up

Published Mon 07 Aug 2017

Ten-time national 400m hurdles champion Laurens Wells (ACT) will start her fourth world championships campaign in London with eyes on making the first global final appearance of her career.

The third fastest Australian woman ever in the event (behind Olympic champion Debbie Flintoff-King and world champion Jana Pittman) has featured in three semi-finals at world championships and two at the Olympic Games, at London in 2012 and last year in Rio.

Wells will be the only Australian in action on day four of the championships in the English capital and she is in good form after setting a personal best over 200m in Canberra early this season.

An appearance in the final here for the 29-year-old will give her a launching pad towards the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast next year after two consecutive fourth place finished in Delhi and Glasgow.

United States champion and fastest woman in the world this year Dalilah Muhammad (USA) features in Wells’ heat, which includes four who have run under 55 seconds in their careers.

Qualifying for a major championships final and improving her personal best of 55.08 set in Belgium four years ago are two significant goals that Wells is striving to achieve before retirement.

In other events on Day 4, world record holder Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) will attempt to defend her 1500m world crown against Caster Semenya and a local favourite Laura Muir (GBR).

Australian middle distance runner Zoe Buckman (Vic) only just missed out on making her second world championships 1500m final, finishing just 0.18 behind the last qualifier.

The Olympic 800m champion, Caster Semenya, from South Africa is attempting the middle-distance double in London, while Muir is in with a good chance of winning gold as the second fastest in the field.

Earlier in the day's program, the men’s 200m heats will be contested featuring Olympic 400m champion and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk (RSA), who is attempting a double of his own.

One of his likely competitors later in the competition will be Isaac Makwala from Botswana, who is the fastest man in the world this year.

In the absence of the great Usain Bolt (JAM), who concentrated on the 100m at his last championships, and the injured Andre De Grasse (CAN) the 200m title could be an open race if van Niekerk is not at his best.

The men's 110m hurdles final is also on the schedule with Jamaican speedster Omar McLeod qualifying fastest in the semi-finals with a 13.10 performance to win ahead of French hurdler Garfield Darien.

World record holder Aries Merritt from the United States placed second in semi final number three to qualify for the final that will also feature defending champion Sergey Shubenkov from Russia.