Johnson barely qualifies for semis

The big debate on the second day of action was who would win the 100 metre final.

World and Olympic champion Donovan Bailey appeared injured when he trailed home second in his first round and was upstaged yesterday by Ato Boldon, who clocked the fifth fastest time ever, 8.78, and American sprinter Maurice Greene, who finished behind him in 9.90.

The semi-final and final were both taking place today along with the final stages of the women8217;s 100 metres, featuring new US star Marion Jones and Jamaican veteran Merlene Ottey.

Johnson needs a big victory in the worlds to compensate for a series of embarrassing setbacks.

He suffered a leg muscle injury during his 150m showdown with Canada8217;s Donovan Bailey on Toronto June 1, when he pulled up and lost the race.He came back to action June 25 in Paris but lost over 400 metres for the first time in eight years, finishing fifth behind two of his US colleagues competing at the Worlds.

Coming into the championships, where he defends his 400m title only and not the 200 title he also won two years ago in Goteborg, Johnson said he was 100 per cent fit and that made him 100 per cent confident.

Fastest qualifier for round two, which took place 8 1/2 hours later, was Johnson8217;s countryman, Jerome Young, who won his heat in 45.34.

Tyree Washington, one of the two Americans who beat Johnson in Paris, placed second in his heat but had the same time as Brazil8217;s Sanderlei Parrela as they both crossed the finish line in 45.35.

Antonio Pettigrew, the 1991 world champion who qualified for this year8217;s championship by winning the USA championships in Indianapolis, won his heat in 45.67, .01 slower than Johnson.

Other leading contenders were British runners Jamie Baulch and Iwan Thomas who looked impressive in their heats.

Baulch, surprise choice for the British team instead of Olympic silver medalist Roger Black, raced away from his rivals in lane one to win in 45.85 seconds and Thomas, who had all his rivals inside him, clocked 45.62.

James Beckford, who had his three-month ban for taking stimulants wiped out Thursday by a new IAAF ruling which substituted a warning, posted one of the best performances in the long jump qualifying round.

The Jamaican, who has posted 8.49 this season, leaped 8.03 metres for sixth best. Leading qualifier was Cuba8217;s world champion, Ivan Pedroso, who cleared 8.11 while American jumper Erick Walder leaped 8.05 to comfortably qualify.Joe Greene, who won the USA championships with a leap of 8.42, was a surprise non-qualifier, leaping only 7.15 metres to place 34th in qualifying.

In the first round of the steeplechase, Kenya8217;s three time defending world champion and world record holder Moses Kiptanui finished only third but qualified comfortably for tomorrow8217;s semifinal final in 8 minutes 25.80 seconds. That compares with his world mark of 7:59.18.

Jan Zelezny, Olympic and World champion and world record holder for the javelin, needed just his first throw of 83.66 metres to be leading qualifier for Tuesday8217;s final.

Germany8217;s Boris Henry had the next best throw of 83.42.