20th World Championships: Onwuzurike to battle Bednarek, Blake for 200m semis ticket in Heat 3

Former World U20 champion, Nigeria’s Udodi Onwuzurike, will battle, among others, the higher-ranked Kenneth Bednarek of the USA, the World and Olympic 200m silver medalist, and Canada’s Jerome Blake for one of the three automatic qualification spots in Heat 3 of the first round on Wednesday at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

The Nigerian is bidding for his second semifinal appearance in his second outing at the Championships, having reached that stage on his debut in 2022.

Apart from Bednarek and Blake, who, on paper, are expected to claim the first two spots, Onwuzurike will also face South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile.

The 23-year-old Dambile is making his third appearance at the Championships and has reached the 200m semifinals in each of his previous two outings.

Dambile has posted a faster time than Onwuzurike this year, clocking 20.01 seconds into a headwind at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in April, which also stands as his personal best.

Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Abdul Atafi, with a season’s best of 20.14 seconds, is also faster than Onwuzurike on paper.

However, the Nigerian appears to be in better form heading into the Championships, having run 20.17 seconds exactly one month ago in Leuven, Belgium, where, interestingly, Dambile finished behind him with a time of 20.24 seconds.

On paper, Onwuzurike is strongly favored to secure a spot in the semifinals in what would be his second consecutive appearance at World Athletics’ flagship event.

The first three finishers in each heat will qualify automatically for the semifinals, along with the six fastest non-automatic times.