Aug. 16, 2016
RIO de JANEIRO, Brazil -- UTEP sophomore Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) and UTEP great Churandy Martina (Netherlands) both advanced to the semifinals in their respective events. Amuson finished fifth in heat five in the women's 100m hurdles and Churandy placed second in heat seven in the men's 200m at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
Amusan's time of 12.99 garnered her a spot in the semifinals on Wednesday. The sprinter will race in the second semifinal heat (lane three) at 5:45 p.m. MT at João Havelange Olympic Stadium.
Martina finished .09 seconds behind heat winner Nery Brenes (Costa Rica), who clocked in a time of 20.20 in the men's 200m. Churandy secured an automatic spot in the 200m semifinals tomorrow at 7 p.m. Churandy will race in heat three (lane eight) with USA's Justin Gatlin.
If both Amusan and Martina advance to the finals, the women's 100m hurdles final is set for a 7:55 p.m. start on Wednesday (Aug. 17), while the men's 200m final will commence at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Miner great Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) didn't compete in the women's long jump, while not qualifying in the women's 200m on Tuesday night.
