European leader Emma Zapletalová jogs into the semi-finals with fourth fastest time, while Belgium’s Pauline Couckuyt leads the standings with a PB of 53.87 on Tuesday’s (11) morning session.
In summary
- Zapletalová looks strong to fill the Femke Broeders-Bol void in 400m hurdles
- Couckuyt qualifies fastest for women’s 400m hurdles final
- Ireland’s Toluwabori Akinola fastest in men’s 100m heats
In the first of the three semi-finals it was Italy’s Ayomide Folorunso who ran an impressive 53.93, while Great Britain’s reigning European U23 champion Emily Newnham came back from mid-pack with 30m to go to finish in second.
The second semi-final saw Zapletalová run a perfectly executed race to take the win with seemingly no unnecessary effort expired.
Then in the third semi-final Couckuyt took the win, but brought GB’s Lina Nielsen in her tow to a PB of 54.04 and to qualify for the final third fastest.
They return on Wednesday (12) at 21:08 BST for the final with Zapletalová in lane seven, with British duo Nielsen and Newnham on her outside and Italy’s Folorunso on her inside.
While it was GB’s Joshua Faulds in men’s 400m hurdles who qualified fastest, with the top 12 athletes given a bye to the semifinals, as he clocked a near PB of 48.90.
In the same heat was Matej Baluch who qualified second fastest with a Slovakian record of 48.94, and Switzerland’s Dany Brand who clocked the third fastest time with 49.07.
They will go again on Wednesday (12) in the semifinals before hoping to make the final on Friday (14) at 20:40 BST.
In the sprints the top 12 athletes are again given byes through to the semifinals, but there were still a dozen places up for grabs from Tuesday’s (11) heats.
In the men’s 100m, Ireland’s Toluwabori Akinola led the way, winning heat 2 in 10.39 into a -2.8m/s headwind. The semifinals and final will take place on Tuesday evening.
And in the men’s 110m hurdles heats, Cyprus’ former Olympic, world and European finalist Milan Trajkovic led the qualifiers, winning heat two in 13.50 (-1.1m/s). The semifinals and final will take place on Wednesday (12).