Women's 400m Semi-finals 1| Commonwealth Games 2022 Athletics |5th Aug 2022 |BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND |

fastest they go in five and seven respectively for England and Scotland but watch out for Amipipi in six and Stiverne of Canada in four this could be very high quality and remember it's three coming back for the women's final it's a breezy evening weather looks nice and it is when you're in the sun but in the shadow it is getting quite cool not quite as warm as it would have been for these world-class sprinters a couple of days or so ago were you how impressed were you Catherine with Victoria Uhurugu's qualification 51.34 obviously under the tutelage of her fabulously decorated and experienced older sister is she the real deal now I've been impressed by Victoria Uhurugu all season and very much so as you say Rob in qualifying and she's got herself a good lane draw here in lane number five 29 years old now and really is in the form of her life under that 51 second barrier by one one hundredth of a second and another athlete that has a huge opportunity here to do something good at these commonwealth games she sure does watch out as well for Shada Williams who also goes in lane five in the second of the semi-finals this is Asemenye Simwaka African championship finalist from Malawi third in heat one giving it a little bit of a shuffle for the crowd former footballer national record in qualification Leni Shida by far and away the best Ugandan female 400 meter runner made the semis of the last two commonwealth games let's see if she can go one better Zoe Clark semi-finalist four years ago the third quickest qualifier she's having a fine season made the world indoor final here in Birmingham a few years ago Amipipi semi-finalist at the world champs she won her heat in 52.4 Victoria Uhurugu was the quickest qualifier bronze in Eugene in the four by four following in the fabulous famous footsteps of her sister Ayanis Deverne won't want the home nations to have it all their own way she was second in heat four with 53.4 national champion from Canada Patience George kind of making her way back to the kind of form that took her to 50.71 51.8 this season she was fourth in heat one and Lydia Gele of Botswana sixth in the African champs she's on the inside she hasn't got close to that 50.3 pb yet this season Gele of Botswana in two she's on the inside but we're not using lane one Patience George Nigeria in three Ayanis Deverne Canada four Victoria Uhurugu in five for England in six Clark for Scotland in seven Shida Uganda eight Simuaka national record just to make it into the semis for Malawi in lane nine top three rather than top two remember because we've only got two semi-finals Uhurugu the fastest qualifier goes in lane five should be a good one this Uhurugu has Pippi to chase and it looks like Clark has already made some headway into Shida eating up the stagger outsider Simuaka has gone very hard on the outside she had no option really Patience George coming up onto the shoulder of Deverne so the experienced Nigerian running well on the inside this has been a steady first 200 from Uhurugu who's just beginning to close the gap on Pippi who now comes up onto the shoulder of Clark but Patience George in lane three Simuaka is on the outside from Malawi but as the stagger unfolds she will begin to come under pressure now Victoria Uhurugu coming into her running listen to the crowd trying to rule her on pulling away now Patience George just beginning to tie up Clark trying to close the gap on Pippi Victoria Uhurugu Simuaka for second and Pippi for third 51 on the nose she's getting quicker 51.34 in the heat 51 on the nose in the semi-final the fastest qualifier from the heats played a patient excellent game there a very steady first 200 she saved her best for the last 100 meters just like her sister always did and Uhurugu one of the favorites for the title is through to the final nicely done Simuaka well done to her as well in the outside lane of lane nine been rewarded with a place in the final and a personal best of 51.7 the athlete from Malawi on the left of the shot here started to struggle here after her first 200 meters and in contrast Victoria Uhurugu in the center line in lane number five looking very very good indeed Zoe Clark from Scotland at this point was desperate to get back to Ama Pippi she just missed her by four one hundredths of a second so she'll wait and see but yet Uhurugu the famous name in 400 meter running and the experience that her sister has he's rubbing off and that was a good piece of qualification ran it very well and we'll see her in the final great stuff from Uhurugu a very patient first 200 she could feel patience George coming through on the inside but didn't panic and showed great composure and she'll need it in the final because there are excellent rivals to come Victoria Uhurugu through to the final now it's saying PB for Simuaka but I got that as a national record because she'd already broken the national record just to get into the semis Pippi