May 18, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr
Sierra Leone’s sprint trio, Ismail Dudu Kamara, Bockarie Sesay and Dolly Mustapha on Wednesday were unable to make it to the 200m finals at the ongoing Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.
After missing a place in the 100m finals on Tuesday, Ismail Dudu Kamara again failed to get past the semi-finals in the 200m Heat 3, finishing fifth place with 21.70sec. Guyana 2012 Summer Olympic flag bearer, Winston George, topped the heat with 21.11sec, followed by Turkish Izzet Safer in second with 21.17sec
Kamara made it to the semi-finals after finishing in what was classed as the fastest heat in Round 1 to secure a Personal Best (PB) time of 21.61sec.
Meanwhile, Bockarie Sesay, who also made it to the semi-finals after finishing third in Round 1 Heat 5 with 23.45sec, was disqualified in Heat 2 of the semi-finals after breaching the International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) 163.3B rule.
The said IAAF rule reads: “In all races (or any part of races) not run in lanes, an athlete running on a bend, on the outer half of the track as per Rule 162.10, or on any curved part of the diversion from the track for the steeplechase water jump, shall not step or run on or inside the kerb or line marking the applicable border (the inside of the track, the outer half of the track, or any curved part of the diversion from the track for the steeplechase water jump).”
In the female category, young Dolly Mustapha finished top of her Heat 2 Round one, with an outstanding display to record a PB of 42.61sec in of the 200m. However, despite reducing her time in the semi-finals to 24.58sec, Mustapha was unable to reach the finals as he finished sixth places in the semi-final Heat 1.