Men's 400m Semi-final 1&2&3|Commonwealth Games 2022 Athletics |5th Aug 2022 |BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND |

Maraisa of Kenya goes in four, Orchim, big talent is Maraisa, Anthony Cox of Jamaica in five, the Australian Steve Solomon goes in six, Solomon very experienced racer, Harun Adoli in seven, Uganda Botswana's Persela is the reigning world under-20 champion in lane eight, and Dubin Ameneh of Nigeria goes on the outside, well second in his heat in 46.77, he has gone over a second quicker than that this year, this is the Botswana and they have won each of these three semi-finals, they had a 1-2 back in 2018 in the final, Anthony Persela world under-20 champion, he's only 20 now, fastest in the field by the way, said his personal best when he won that world junior title in Nairobi last year, Harun Adoli of Uganda second in his heat in 46.38, he's never broken 46 seconds, Steve Solomon of Australia the semi-finalist in the Olympics last year, he was second in his heat here in 45.98, very experienced athlete, Anthony Cox of Jamaica fourth in the world youth back in 2017, and in the heats in Nuyuting for Jamaica, fourth leg for them, they didn't get out of the heats, Boniface Moresa of Kenya, fifth in the world indoors back in 2016, 45.01 his best, now would be a good time to go a little bit quicker, and for Saint Lucia Michael Joseph goes in lane three, 47.08 in his heat, he can go much faster than that, he's a 45.6 performer, and then Kyle Gale for Barbados goes on the inside, 46.66 for fourth place in his heat, he won't be too happy with that lane two draw, I suspect the bends a little bit tighter, they slow you a little bit, five of the eight in this first semi-final that have set personal bests this year, Anthony Pasella of Botswana is such a huge talent, 44.58 to win that world under-20 title last year, as we see Steve Solomon of Australia settle into his blocks, he's many time a semi-finalist in major global championships, actually finished seventh back in 2018 over one lap on the Gold Coast, Solomon is the best, it's 44.9, now who can judge this the best, who can finish with something in hand, and give themselves a good chance of a medal in the final, only the first two go through by right, so there isn't a great deal of room for error, you need to be in the first two, lovely smooth running from the Kenyan, Waresa, there in the center of picture, just sheltering the Jamaican yellow vest of Anthony Cox, and he possibly leads at the moment, good running too from the St. Lucia athlete inside him in the light blue vest, Michael Joseph, big fella, moving well around the first 300, but now Waresa begins to dig deep, so is Steve Solomon, how can I have to do that if he wants to get there, and he's not going to do it, and coming through the Ugandan, the big Ugandan, Aaron Adoli, with a fabulous run, and he's going to take this one, very close at the front end there, boy oh boy, what a finish from Adoli, 45.81, that is a lifetime best, his first time under 46 seconds, what a run from the 27 year old, I thought Boniface Waresa had it sewn up, but he was run down, I think Anthony Cox was third, but only the first two go through by right, 45.80 for Aaron Adoli of Uganda, he goes through to the final, Waresa of Kenya does as well, 45.85 in second. Well I have to say, that was one of the messiest 400 meter semifinals I've ever seen from several athletes there Tim, in terms of how they ran it, the Kenyan Waresa we'll see on the replay, was absolutely flying around the first 120, then he consolidated massively down the back straight, then he went again, meanwhile the Botswana and Persella in lane number eight was going nicely, now he's chilling a little bit, and then he goes again, and in the middle of that, was the Ugandan here, look at the tall figure on the outside, their national champion this year, running 46.38, and as you say, gritting his teeth, getting himself into that top two position, the Kenyan held on well in the end, he was puffing out his cheeks a bit, but he got the automatic qualifying spot under 46 seconds as well, it was a good race though wasn't it, I did enjoy it massively, it was just unpredictable. I was gonna say, you know 45.8, not supremely fast, but the fact is what a brilliant race it was, and a lot of changing of positions, it's like a middle distance race, as they come down the home straight here, the Australian Steve Solomon going backwards, he ends up in fourth place 46.30, Anthony Cox the Jamaican, just run out of an automatic spot, his time in third 45.98, it's going to be very very tight indeed, see if he can get a non-automatic qualifying spot. Yeah look how tight it is with our overhead camera, you can see the whites of the Ugandans teeth there, lifetime best performance, a dip finish ahead of the Kenyan, very very enjoyable as you say, Cox 45.98, Solomon 46.30, they will wait and see, how entertaining, super soft, and it's just past nine o'clock here at local time, it is chilly, the temperatures dropped to 15-16 degrees, what a great slow-mo that is, we'll see him back in the final. Absolutely right, yeah, giving it all, smiling and grimacing at the same time there, Aaron Adoli, a surprise winner of that first semi-final of three in the men's 445.80, a personal best for him, Boniface Moreza goes through by right as well for Kenya 45.85, Sam Okonga ran himself to a standstill to break 45 seconds in the heat, what on earth is he going to do in the semi, this is very high quality this one, three men in this field have gone inside 45 this season, Michael Francois Grenada on the outside, national champion of the four and the 800, PB in the heats, watch for his strength down the last 50 if it gets tight, Danny Geldenhuis, third in heat one, semi-finalist in the African Championships this year, the Namibian, and now to this very exciting talent, Jonathan Jones, world junior finalist back in 2018, made the final over 400 at the Worlds in Eugene, and he ran a fabulous relay leg this morning, as did this fella, Muzala Samokonga was taken away from the finish line after that 44.89 in a wheelchair, we weren't sure we'd see him in the relay or in this competition, he goes in six, this is Ngozi of Botswana, he made the African Championship final earlier this year, and then to Javon Powell, silver medalist in Eugene in the 4x4, second in heat five, and he made 46.14, very easy indeed, Joseph Breyer, fourth in the national championships, the world junior bronze in the 4x4, the Welshman getting good support by the British crowd, and Adeyemi on the inside, 4x4 bronze in the African Championships in Mauritius, lane one is empty but he is on the inside in lane two, well this is really really high quality, Adeyemi of Nigeria in two, Breyer, Wales in three, Powell who's gone 44.87, that PB in the USA in four, Ngozi of Botswana, an Olympic bronze medalist in the 4x4 in five, Samokonga, there he is, 44.89, he ran like a man possessed in the heat, Jonathan Jones the brilliant 400-800 runner for Barbados outside him in seven, Gelton who's Namibia eight, Francois Grenada in nine, Samokonga in six, Jones in seven, the favourites here, this could be fast, only the top two coming back for the final. Samokonga running on the outside of his lane but he's being put under pressure here by Ngozi, the Botswanan has gone off pretty hard as Powell floats his way down the back straight, third from the right-hand side the Jamaican, Gelton who's on the left has gone past Francois Grenada but watch for Jonathan Jones, third from the left-hand side, now the 800 meter strength begins to come to the fore, he's running towards the inside of his lane, Powell the Jamaican is going well and no move yet from Samokonga, has he got anything left? Now the Zambian begins to come through, Jonathan Jones and Samokonga are the two qualifiers for the final with Powell run out of it in third and he might not make it with that non-automatic time, I really like this guy, he's a great combination runner over one and two laps, there was a little bit of histrionics going on elsewhere, he wasn't interested, 45.82, Samokonga came charging through the field but not for a sub 45 but it was good enough for a place in the final, he always seems to grimace and look like he's in a great deal of pain but he has made it to the final, Powell will have to wait and see. I agree with you Charlie about Jonathan Jones, he's a lovely smooth looking runner and he hardly broke sweat there, he walks way off the line looking very very calm and untroubled indeed, quite a contrast to Samokonga who comes through very late, I mean he's virtually in last place coming off the bend, there he is in that dark green strip for Zambia but again look at the head bobbing to desperation, the arms pumping hard, what a contrast to Jonathan Jones in that lovely yellow and blue strip of Barbados, he is so smooth, Samokonga comes through, Samokonga comes through for second place, the 19 year old, what a raw talent he is but the Barbadian Jonathan Jones as smooth as mercury there through the last hundred meters, very very calm. Wow, I was looking at this guy's stats before I went to Eugene and I was really excited to see him run, big breakthrough making that World Championship final, I know he didn't get a medal as Sade Williams his compatriot did in the women's 400 meters for Barbados but yeah I'm glad you impressed with him Tim, I've been excited by this Barbadian for quite a while, power started to get a little bit tight and by the way 46.40 he is not in a non-automatic spot, those two times still belonging to Cox and Solomon in the first of the semi-finals, what a fascinating final in prospect. Jonathan Jones of Barbados is in the final so to Samokonga, Powell of Jamaica will miss out. Nathan Allen of Jamaica in five, impressive in qualifying, Matthew Hudson-Smith the world bronze medalist a couple of weeks ago from England starts in lane number six, so lane number nine Alonzo Russell of the Bahamas and his third Commonwealth Games born in Freeport, semi-finalist at the Olympics last year, just outside 45 seconds in his best back in 2016, Asa Guevara of Trinidad and Tobago he'll start in lane number eight, another athlete just outside 45 seconds, Iongo Scotch of Botswana bang on the 45 seconds for his lifetime best, a semi-finalist at the Olympics last year, starts in lane number seven and then we'll listen to the roar, Hugh Hudson-Smith the Birchfield Harrier on his own home track the world bronze medalist and UK record holder goes in lane number six, Nathan Allen of Jamaica starts in five, was fifth at the World Championships in this event back in 2017, is a 44-1-3 runner Samson Nathaniel from Nigeria, semi-finalist the Commonwealth Games back in 2018, starts in lane number four, Kennedy Lachembe of Zambia the semi-finalist of the World Junior Championships in 2018, the 21 year old starts in lane number three and completing the lineup in the third semi-final, Kamuraga of Sri Lanka 45.73, just shy of that this season by about a tenth and a half, there's the current qualifying times for the non-automatic qualifiers Cox and Solomon, in those two spots as it stands with one more semi-final to come and Matthew Hudson-Smith in his third Commonwealth Games now, the 27 year old starts in lane number six, 44.35 this year, keep your eyes on Allen though, the Jamaica in five, Scotch ran in the 4x4 heats this morning, there he is the Botswanan in lane number seven, the final semi-final of the men's 400 metres, goes up around Alexander Stadium, Hudson-Smith it's pretty even isn't it over the first hundred metres, Allen the Jamaica moving nicely in lane number five, Rivada, Trinidad and Tobago going well in lane number eight, but apart from the athlete in lane eight, there's no real move here by anybody but this is where you put your foot down in a 400, between two and three hundred metres, Rivada, Trinidad and Tobago moving very nicely, Matthew Hudson-Smith making his move, the volume goes up in Alexander Stadium, keep your eye on Allen the Jamaican, but Matthew Hudson-Smith a world bronze medalist now, wins the third semi-final 45.78 and the job is done for the English athlete, UK record in Eugene of 44.35, he took one one hundredth of a second off Ewan Thomas's British record that has stood for 25 years, he said that monkey's off my back, now I'm going to get go get going and win medals and now he's got himself in to the Commonwealth final here in Birmingham, he certainly has, he was sticking out that barrel chest, he played a patient game, Scotch was trying to get himself in the shake-up, I think he had to work reasonably hard for that, Matthew Hudson-Smith, the Trinidadian really put everything on the line, Guevara and it was inevitable that the lactic acid, talking about the Trinidadian just on the left of picture there, running second from the outside, he could tell that Hudson-Smith was coming as Nathan Allen came past him as well for the second automatic spot and Scotch who came through for third for Botswana will just miss out, so Cox of Jamaica and Solomon of Australia from the first of the semis will take the two non-automatic spots but maybe you know looking at the three semifinals Catherine, it could be Jonathan Jones of Barbados against Hudson-Smith and Jones did not win a medal in that World Championship final, Hudson-Smith may well line up as the favourite to take this title on his home track, what a story that would be, well and justifiably so when in the last few weeks you've won an individual World Championship medal that's the pressure and expectation that comes for us athletes, as you can see Hudson-Smith here, a little grimaced didn't he as he went into the home straight there, he saw the Trinidadian-Tobago athlete outside him, but had a glance up at the screen then and there is pressure, there is expectation and that is what Matthew Hudson-Smith has to deal with now, not just because he's a world individual medalist but as you say Rob, because it's on his home track in Birmingham. And how do you think, you know him quite well, you've spent a lot of time with him, how do you think he will cope with being the favourite and being up against somebody of the quality of Jonathan Jones of Barbados who is also on an upward trajectory this season, how will that sit with him psychologically between now and the final? Because he won an individual medal in Eugene quite comfortably, his confidence is high, he's had a lot of injury problems, he's had a lot of changes in the last couple of years, he's happy, he's settled and this is the best he's ever been running and it's going to be a brilliant final on Sunday morning at quarter to 11. That is another factor that these athletes have to deal with, they've got to factor that in from now because we don't often have sprint finals in a morning session at a major championships. But it could well be warmer than it was running this evening at half past nine in the evening into a blustery wind. It's not the warmth, it's the time that's the killer for many athletes who sprinted especially, but we will see because there's the result of semi-final number three, England's Matthew Hudson-Smith automatically through Nathan Allen as well, the Jamaican under 46 seconds and it will be a good final and one that the English fans are looking forward to. They certainly will, the sun has set as we edge towards the end of the fourth day but as Catherine was saying when we come back on Sunday this is what the morning final will look like.