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FINALIST: TT's Jereem Richards reacts after securing his spot in the men's 400m final at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Tuesday. - APJereem "The Dream" Richards kept his Olympic dream alive after advancing to the men’s 400m final at the Stade de France on August 6. He runs out of lane nine in the final on August 7, from 3:20pm at the Stade de France in Paris.
Running out of lane seven in the semifinal one of three, Richards placed second after clocking 44.33 seconds. American Quincy Hall won the heat in 43.95s.
Both athletes automatically advanced to the final (top two in each heat and next two fastest times).
Richards had a good start out of the blocks and over the first 200m. A strong surge from Hall after the halfway mark saw him take control of the race and move Richards into second spot.
Eventual third-placed Botswanan Collen Kebinatshipi (44.43s) tried to catch Richards over the final 50m but the TT athlete proved superior to seal the second automatic qualifying spot.
Riohards told Team TTO media, "I''m very satisfied wth my semifinal today. I executed exactly the way I wanted to and by the grace of God, I'm gonna be an Olympic finalist. I want to take it one step further and be an Olympic medallist. I'm very confident and proud of where I've gotten so far."
Three-time Olympic medallist Kirani James of Grenada topped heat two in a season’s best time of 43.78s while Zambian Muzala Samukonga was second in a national record time of 43.81s.
Three-time World Championships medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith was the top finisher in the third semi-final, clocking 44.07s. American Michael Norman was second in 44.26s and third Nigerian Samuel Ogazi (44.41s) advanced as one of the two fastest other qualifiers.
The other fastest qualifier into the final was American Christopher Bailey, who was third in heat two, and stopped the clock on 44.31s.
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