Bori Akinola finished sixth in his 60m semi-final at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, on Saturday evening, running 6.60 seconds, slightly slower than the time he set in his earlier heat.
The 24-year-old ran 6.59, his second-fastest time ever, to finish third in heat three and qualify for the semi-finals, but his championship ends here.
The qualifying conditions were made tougher for Akinola when, in heat one, there was a dead heat for second place between Simon Verherstraeten and Taymir Burnet.
With photo‑finish officials unable to separate the pair, both clocking 6.56, and only eight lanes available in the final, one fewer lane was available for non‑automatic qualifiers.
2016 World Indoor champion Trayvon Bromell set a new world lead of 6.42 in heat two, while defending champion Jeremiah Azu of Great Britain also secured his spot in the final with a personal best of 6.45 to finish second in Akinola's semi-final.
Akinola's 6.60 clocking ranks him 15th overall.
In the men's 1500m heats, James Gormley took on the early pace, leading the pack through the first 400m in a pedestrian 62 seconds.
Samuel Pihlström brought the race to life when he took over the lead after three laps, controlling proceedings to win in 3:43.48.
Gormley remained competitive until the final 200‑metre burn‑up, when he drifted off the back and finished ninth in 3:50.71.
With only the first three from each heat qualifying for Sunday's final, no fast times were expected in the tactical races. Surprise outdoor world champion from last year, Isaac Nader, also qualified safely, finishing second in Gormley’s heat.
"This is my first international championship experience in the 1500m at senior level so I'll learn a lot for sure," he said afterwards. "I can only try and come back better."
In the morning session on Friday, Mark English progressed safely from the men's 800m heats, winning his race in a time of 1:46.42.
English slotted into second position for the first 600m before hitting the front with a lap to run, and qualified comfortably, even taking a glance up at the big screen to check his positioning in the home straight.
Fastest man in the world this year, Eliott Crestan was the quickest across the six heats clocking 1:45.51.
Maeve O'Neill made her senior debut in the heats of the women's 800m, taking on the pace at the 500m mark after a slow first 400m set by eventual winner Nigist Getachew.
O'Neill crossed the line in third position, just three hundredths off the heat winner, running 2:03.20, but a subsequent disqualification of second-placer Valery Tobias of the United States means O'Neill will get another run in tomorrow's semi-final (11.22am).
"I'm shocked, I didn’t know anything was after going on behind me," she said upon finding out about the disqualification.
"It was tough to make a decision to go up the inside with 300m to go as that’s pretty early in the race still. I did fade in the last 40 or 50m, but I knew I had to try something."
Emma Moore, also making her senior debut, finished fifth in the sixth and final heat, with a 2:02.00 clocking, her second-fastest time ever, which wasn't fast enough to progress.
"I tried to surge and make up a bit of ground, but I think that cost me in the end," she said. "I knew if I ran the right race I'd get in, but I was just outside that.
"I made a few mistakes in trying to get into spaces. It’s all experience and I’m happy with that, 2.02 in a messy race."
World record holder Keely Hodgkinson safely qualified, winning heat one in a relaxed 2:00.32.
The first gold medal of the championships was won by Yaroslava Mahuchik in the women's high jump with a best of 2.01m. Nicola Olyslagers, Angelina Topic and Yuliia Levchenko all cleared 1.99m. Count back couldn't separate the trio, so three silver medals were awarded.
Mahuchik reclaimed the title that she last won in 2023 and Topic bettered her father's third-place finish in the 1999 championships, after ending up fourth in her last two appearances.
Listen to live updates from the World Athletics Championships on Saturday and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
