The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LONDON, England: A first, a second and a third place finish in their respective heats on Tuesday have propelled Bahamian Olympic 400 metre champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Tynia Gaither and Anthonique Strachan into the semifinal of the women's 200 metres at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium.

Miller-Uibo, fresh from securing her berth in the final of the 400m the night before, continued her quest for the rare 200/400 double by posting the second fastest qualifying time of 22.69 seconds to take the fourth of seven heats.

Her time was only bested by Dutchwoman Dafne Schippers, the championship's defending champion and this year's 100m bronze medalist, who won heat one in 22.63 with Gaither holding on to second in 22.98 for ninth overall. Strachan, running out of heat six, had to come from behind to clock 23.23 for 15th place in the field of 24 qualifiers for Thursday's semi-final.

"I felt fine. It'e the same old thing. I'm just trying to save as much energy as I could for the final," Miller-Uibo said after the race. "I felt pretty good. It was a little cold, but it's okay."

Miller-Uibo, 22, will be back on Wednesday night to complete one half of her double attempt when she runs in the final of the 400m at 4:50 pm EST.

The semifinal of the 200m is set for Thursday at 4:05 pm EST when Miller-Uibo, Gaither and Strachan will line up in their bid to get into Friday's final at 4:50 pm.

Gaither, the 24-year-old graduate of the University of Southern California, said although she was off her personal best of 22.54 in 2016 and season's best of 22.71, she's content to be moving on.

"It was really good. It was one of my best races that I've had in months," said Gaither, who came into the championships with a season's best of 22.71, just off her personal best of 22.54. However, she was could only chase Scheppers through the finish line.

Strachan, who will celebrate her 24th birthday on August 22, was able to make up enough ground as she powered back behind championship 100m silver medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou from the Ivory Coast (third overall in 20.70) and Sarah Atcho of Suriname, 13th overall in 23.09.

"It was really nice. I got off to a fast start, which was really nice. That's all I could ask for, having lane eight," said Strachan whose season's best was 22.84, “I enjoyed it."

Missing from the start of the 200m was American Tori Bowie. The training partner of Miller-Uibo suffered her share of bruises – just as the Bahamian did last year at the Rio Olympics – when she tumbled across the line after winning the 100m title on Sunday night. She's hoping to be back for the USA's 4 x 100m relay on Saturday.