LONDON – Lady Tiger alum and reigning World Championships bronze medalist Kelly-Ann Baptiste cruised into the semifinal round of the women’s 100-meter dash while winning the first qualifying heat in 10.96 seconds during Friday’s opening day of action on the track at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Baptiste certainly set the tone in the first prelim race for the women’s 100-meter dash as she beat France’s Myriam Soumare (11.07) to the finish line with the fourth-fastest qualifying time of the afternoon.
Carmelita Jeter of the United States followed Baptiste by winning the second qualifying heat of the day in 10.83 for the fastest time for the opening round, while Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare (10.93) and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown (10.94) also broke 11 seconds to win their respective races.
Baptiste will be joined in Saturday’s semifinal round by fellow Trinidad & Tobago native Semoy Hackett as the Lady Tiger senior raced to a personal best of 11.04 to take second place in the sixth heat.
Hackett trailed only the 11.00 by Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for the ninth-fastest time for the day. She smashed her previous personal record of 11.10 that she set in a runner-up finish in the 100-meter final at the 2012 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on May 13.
Hackett will line up in lane No. 5 in the first heat and Baptiste will line up in lane No. 5 in the second heat of the women’s 100-meter semifinal on Saturday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. CT. The championship final is set to wrap up Saturday’s action at the Olympic Stadium at 3:55 p.m. Both former Lady Tigers advanced into the semifinals of the event four years ago at the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing.
In addition, Tiger junior Damar Forbes made his Olympics debut during Friday’s action in the field with a start in men’s long jump qualifying during the evening session at the Olympic Stadium.
Forbes opened the competition with a jump of 25 feet, 6 ¾ inches in the first round of qualifying that held up for 12th place in the first flight and 19th place overall on the afternoon. The top 12 qualifiers in Friday’s preliminary round advanced to Saturday action for an opportunity to advance to the medal round.
Time Schedule for LSU’s Entries at the 2012 Olympic Games
Note: Times are Central and subject to change based on round-by-round qualifying.
Saturday, Aug. 4
6:30 a.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Preliminary Round (Richard Thompson)
1:35 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
3:55 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett)
Sunday, Aug. 5
1:00 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles First Round (Nickiesha Wilson)
1:45 p.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Richard Thompson)
3:50 p.m. – Men’s 100 Meters Final (Richard Thompson)
Monday, Aug. 6
4:05 a.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Preliminary Round (Lolo Jones)
1:20 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Preliminary Round (Semoy Hackett)
2:15 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Nickiesha Wilson)
Tuesday, Aug. 7
1:15 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Semifinals (Lolo Jones)
2:25 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Semoy Hackett)
3:00 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Final (Lolo Jones)
Wednesday, Aug. 8
5:35 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Preliminary Round (Neisha Bernard-Thomas)
2:45 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Final (Nickiesha Wilson)
3:00 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Semoy Hackett)
Thursday, Aug. 9
5:35 a.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Preliminary Round (Ade Alleyne-Forte, Riker Hylton)
1:30 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Semifinal (Neisha Bernard-Thomas)
2:20 p.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Preliminary Round (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett, Samantha Henry-Robinson)
Friday, Aug. 10
1:45 p.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Preliminary Round (Richard Thompson)
2:40 p.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Final (Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett, Samantha Henry-Robinson)
3:20 p.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Final (Ade Alleyne-Forte, Riker Hylton)
Saturday, Aug. 11
2:00 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Final (Neisha Bernard-Thomas)
3:00 p.m. – Men’s 4×100 Relay Final (Richard Thompson)