Jamaican sprinter Andrew Hudson has effectively been given a bye into the 200m final at the World Athletics championships after he claimed he had blurred vision in his semi-final following a buggy crash earlier in the evening.
Two buggies carrying athletes were involved in a collision on the grounds of the games in Budapest. Hudson was seen on the on-board camera seemingly in pain and rubbing his right eye after thr incident.
The discretionary place given to Hudson means the final will be a nine-runner affair with the Jamaican sprinter being the only competitor owning a personal best of over 20 seconds.
Hudson finished fifth, running 20.38 in the semi-final heat won by American Noah Lyles with a time of 19.76.
"I feel like it all happened in slow motion," Hudson said. "Unfortunately, I was sitting on the side where another buggy crashed into us, I was directly impacted. They got most of the glass out. My eye is pretty blurry right now.
"It is my first World Championships so it's going to be memorable. . . Maybe I'd better walk next time."
Lyles continued his quest for double sprint gold, cruising into the final four days after winning the 100m.
The twice world 200m champion ran 19.76 seconds to record the fastest time in Thursday's semi-finals.
Femke Bol of the Netherlands stormed to her first World Championships gold in the women's 400 metres hurdles to put last week's crushing relay heartbreak behind her.
The 23-year-old, second at last year's worlds and third at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was level with American Shamier Little until just before the home straight but pulled away emphatically to cross the line well clear in 51.70 seconds.
It was a hugely satisfying win for Bol, who was in tears after falling metres from the line when racing for gold in the 4x400m mixed relay on the opening night of the championships.
"It wasn't easy to forget what happened in the final metres of the relay but my team was around me and they put me at my ease," said Bol, who covered her eyes in disbelief after crossing the line on Thursday.
"I took the first few hurdles fast and then I could run my rhythm," Bol said of her strategy. "I think I have just had the best first 200 metres ever. Then I just needed to finish the race which I could do easily."
Little came second in 52.80, just holding off Jamaica's Rushell Clayton who took the bronze in 52.81.
