Brianna Rollins breezed into the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles yesterday as a formidable United States contingent eyed a clean sweep of the Olympic honours. Florida-based Rollins, the 2013 world champion, coasted over the barriers to qualify for today’s semi-finals in a blistering 12.54sec, the quickest time of the opening round. The 24-year-old was followed in the overall first round times by Kristi Castlin, who clocked 12.68sec. The third American in the field, 27-year-old Nia Ali, also reached the semi-finals with something to spare, winning her heat in 12.76sec. US hurdlers have been overwhelmingly dominant in the event this year, with seven different American women posting the seven fastest times of 2016. Such is the US strength in depth in the event, that Keni Harrison — who smashed the world record with a time of 12.20sec in July — was unable to even make the team. Ali acknowledged that a USA 1-2-3 was achievable but warned against complacency. “It’s very possible but you can’t discount other countries,” she said. “We’re going to do our best and hopefully that’s good enough.”

Russians fear Klishina’s performance will suffer

The head of Russia’s Olympic delegation yesterday criticised athletics’ governing body for flip-flopping over the eligibility of long-jumper Darya Klishina to compete in Rio, and said he feared her performance will suffer. When the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) banned Russia’s track and field team in June because of state-sponsored doping, it initially held open the door to Klishina because she trains and undergoes drug testing in the United States. On Saturday she was suspended because of what the IAAF described as new evidence, but on Monday she appealed successfully to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and was due to take part in the qualifying round later yesterday. Delegation chief Igor Kazikov said it was impossible to understand why the 25-year-old had been given accreditation and a vest number and then abruptly excluded. “Why is that happening? If you, the international federation, have allowed her in, then let the woman compete, why are you hassling her the whole time?” he said. “Some of the decisions that are being taken are inadequate. This one (Klishina) is let in, and then all this fuss starts up again. Why are these things going on? It’s impossible to understand. I think it will probably have an effect because of all this pressure, when someone has to get ready to compete and you’re having to deal with this legal complication. Not everyone is psychologically able to deal with that tension.”