PARIS, France – A stellar day from those representing LSU was highlighted by Vernon Norwood and the Team USA mixed 4×400-meter relay breaking the World Record. Two other Tigers advanced to the next rounds of their events as they competed on day two of athletics’ events at the Stade de France in Saint Denis.
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The Team USA mixed 4×400-meter relay team consisting of Vernon Norwood became the first team in world history to ever go sub 3:08 in the event. Norwood made up every bit of stagger there was on the first leg to hand the baton of before any other team could, splitting 44.47 seconds according to World Athletics. His split helped lead Team USA to a heats’ winning time of 3:07.41, giving them the World Record before they even hit the track for the final on Saturday.
“We knew what it was,” said Norwood after the race. “We knew what it would take to break the world record. Our job is just to come out and execute. Hopefully tomorrow we do it again.”
Sophomore Ella Onojuvwevwo and Team Nigeria also competed in the mixed 4x400m relay in heat two. Onojuvwevwo put on an amazing performance for Nigeria with a split of 50.19 seconds on the second leg. Her team posted a time of 3:11.99, which is a new Nigerian National Record. The time however was not fast enough to advance them to Saturday’s final, as they finished in fourth place, just one spot out of advancing.
The day started with the women’s 100-meter heats at 4:50 a.m. CT (11:50 GMT+2). The event had three Tigers in total with Thelma Davies (LBR) and Richardson (USA) in heat one and Tima Godbless representing Team Nigeria in heat seven. It was notable that unlike many of the other events this week, the 100 meter did not have a repechage round allowing a second chance for athletes to move onto the semifinals.
Richardson got out with the slowest reaction time of her heat (.200), but made a smooth transition along the straightaway. The former Tiger clocked a heat-winning time of 10.94 seconds (+0.1 m/s) even while she started to slow down about 10-20 meters out from the finish line. Her time finished fourth overall in the heats and puts her in a loaded heat two of the semifinals that includes Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price (JAM), Julien Alfred (LCA) and Rosemary Chukwuma (NGR).
Davies did not get the full race she was hoping for on Friday, but those that watched know her future has never been brighter. The Team Liberia sprinter had a quick reaction from the gun and was out ahead of Sha’Carri in the No. 2 spot. A lingering injury had caught up to Davies ~40 meters into the race and saw her drop to last place in the heat with 12.05 seconds at the line.
“I just came out here to compete as best as possible,” said Davies after the race. “ I already knew my limits, but I just wanted to see how far I could push it… My biggest lesson is to keep being determined. I’ve came back from injuries multiples, and of course I didn’t do what I wanted to do on this stage, but I know this is just the beginning for me.”
The rising star is still scheduled to compete in the women’s 200 meter for Team Liberia, which is scheduled to start at 3:55 a.m. this Sunday.
Closing out the women’s 100-meter races for the Tigers was the freshman Godbless representing Nigeria in heat seven. She had a solid start out of the blocks and was making her way down the lane near the front, but was unable to maintain as she fell to sixth place in her heat with the time of 11.33 seconds (-0.2 m/s). Godbless will close out her time in Paris with the women’s 4×100-meter relay that is set to begin next Thursday (August 8th) at 4:10 a.m.
The day finished for the LSU alumni with Natoya Goule representing Team Jamaica in the women’s 800-meter heats. Goule ran in the final 800m heat of the day, clocking a time of 1:58.66 to earn an auto-qualifying spot to the semifinals. Her time was the eighth fastest overall on the day in the heats.
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