Ohuruogu cruises into 400m semis

25 August - 2 September

Christine Ohuruogu's comeback from a one-year ban gathered pace on day two of the World Championships in Japan as she eased into the 400m semi-finals.

The 23-year-old has only just returned after being suspended for missing three out-of-competition drugs but won her heat in a season's best 50.46 seconds.

Ohuruogu is joined in Monday's semis by Nicola Sanders and Scot Lee McConnell.

British sprint trio Laura Turner, Montell Douglas and Jeanette Kwayke also reached the 100m quarter-finals.

Kwakye clocked a personal best of 11.26 to go through as a fastest loser, while Douglas (11.39) and Turner (11.46) eased through as automatic qualifiers.

Title favourites Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell (11.33) and American Torri Edwards (11.13) breezed through.

In the evening session, British heptathletes Kelly Sotherton and Jessica Ennis will continue their fight for medals as they round off their campaigns in the long jump, javelin and 800m.

Sotherton is lying in third place, 25 points behind Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska, with Ennis a further 47 points behind her British team-mate.

Swedish Olympic champion Carolina Kluft is at the top of the standings and on course for her third straight world crown.

British trio Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis and Craig Pickering will all look to advance in the men's 100m semi-finals.

The final, where world record holder Asafa Powell and world number one Tyson Gay are expected to meet for the first time this year, is at 1420BST.

Ohuruogu, the Commonwealth champion, won a warm-up race in Osaka's Nagai stadium last week and became the fastest Briton over 400m this season.

But the Londoner surpassed that time during qualification and another controlled performance suggests that she is closing in on her personal best of 50.28.

Sanders finished a strong second to US champion DeeDee Trotter in a time of 51.45 with Ireland's Joanne Cuddihy third in 51.55.

"It was pretty tough out there in the heat," Sanders, the European indoor champion, said.

"I am really confident. I had psyched myself to think it was going to be really hard but it was much, much better so hopefully that bodes even better for the semis and Wednesday's final."

McConnell set a season's best of 51.44 to go through and said: "I had some fight in me in case I needed to got a little quicker."

The fastest time in the heats was set by Jamaica's Novlene Williams, who fought it out with Mexico's former world champion Ana Guevara, edging her out in 50.21.

There was disappointment for Scot Andrew Lemoncello , who failed to advance to the final of the men's 3,000m steeplechase.

The 24-year-old, who had suffered a bout of sickness at the holding camp in Macau, finished last in his heat and more than 30 seconds off the required qualifying standard.

"I don't know what happened, there was nothing left in my body, I have never experienced anything like that before in my life," said Lemoncello.

"I just don't know what I did wrong. It was just a horrible, horrible experience."

Source: BBC Sport