By Nick Mulvenney
TOKYO (Reuters) -Melissa Jefferson-Wooden showed no signs of fatigue as she stormed into the women’s 200 metres semi-finals at the world championships on Wednesday, three days after winning the 100m gold medal.
Running in the 200m for the first time at a major championships, the 24-year-old American looked in superb form as she easily won her heat in 22.24 seconds to take another step towards the sprint double.
Jamaica’s defending champion Shericka Jackson, who is looking to match Allyson Felix’s record of three world titles, also looked sharp as she powered home to win the fifth heat in 22.33, the third fastest time of the round.
The top two at last year’s Paris Olympics were absent with champion Gabby Thomas missing the championships due to an Achilles injury and silver medallist Julien Alfred having withdrawn due to a hamstring tear.
Four Americans won their heats with Anavia Battle clocking the fastest time in 22.07, Jefferson-Wooden second quickest, and Brittany Brown (22.50) and McKenzie Long (22.51) also progressing.
“My legs feel like they were getting themselves back on the track. The 200m is a different feel to the 100m so it is about executing and being smart,” said Jefferson-Wooden.
“My coach will probably tell me that I have burnt too much energy but I wanted to get a feel for it so that there is nothing foreign to me in the next few days.”
Jefferson-Wooden is looking to match Germans Silke Gladisch (1987) and Katrin Krabbe (1991) as well as Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (2015) by winning both women’s sprints at a single world championships.
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith won the final heat in 22.40, the fifth fastest time of the day behind Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (22.39).
“The 100 metres did not go as planned, everyone knows I was left in the blocks,” said Ta Lou-Smith, who finished seventh in the shorter sprint.
“The 200 is a chance to redeem myself, so I am ready to be in the final. I am better running the 200, so I am really happy to have the chance to compete again at this level and injury free.”
The semi-finals are on Thursday with the gold medal up for grabs on Friday.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond)
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