CMC – VETERAN Jamaican sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and rookie St Lucian, Julien Alfred, both impressed as they led several Caribbean qualifiers into the semi-finals of the women’s 100 metres at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
The 37-year-old Fraser-Pryce, a former World and Olympic champion now in the twilight of her career, was the fastest of the Caribbean cohort, clocking 10.92 seconds as she finished second in the last of eight heats behind Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Côte d’Ivoire (10.87).

Ta Lou, still chasing her first Olympic medal at age 35, was away quickly from lane two, Fraser-Pryce in lane seven easily coming through to join her across the line in an effortless run.
Alfred, meanwhile, the 23-year-old in her first Olympiad, stormed to an equally eye-catching 10.95 as she captured heat two ahead of New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11:08).
Running out of lane nine, she chased down Hobbs in lane six to win easily in the end, to clinch her spot in Saturday’s semi-finals.

Jamaican teenager Tia Clayton also booked her spot in the next round when she clocked 11 seconds flat in finishing second in heat four behind Audrey Leduc of Canada (10.95).
Installed in lane eight, the 19-year-old started well but was forced to play second fiddle to Leduc and Great Britain’s Imani Lansiquot (11.10) for most of the race before catching the Brit in the final metres.

Shahalee Forbes, a late replacement for World 200m champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, made sure of her spot in the semis by finishing second in heat six in 11.19, with 22-year-old Trinidadian Leah Bertrand also booking her place courtesy of a third place finish in 11:27.

There was disappointment, however, for several other Caribbean athletes as Barbadian Tristan Evelyn (11.55), Trinidadian Michelle-Lee Ahye (11.33), St Kitts and Nevis’ Zahria Allers-Liburd (11,89), Grenadian Halle Hazzard (11.70) and Antiguan Joella Lloyd (11.37) all failed to advance.