McGrone Will Run in the 200 Final at IAAF

NORMAN – Candyce McGrone's exciting run at the the 15^th IAAF World Championships continued Thursday as she ran the third fastest time recorded in the 200-meter semifinals to advance to Friday's final. The former Sooner finished second in her heat with a 22.26 to earn an automatic qualifier spot in the final to be held in Beijing's National Stadium.

The 200-meter final is scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday (Beijing time)/8 a.m. CDT. McGrone will run out of the sixth lane with the top qualifier, Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain, set to run out of lane four. Elaine Thompson of Jamaica had the second fastest qualifying time and will run in lane five.

McGrone is one of the four fastest women to qualify for the final based on times run this season. She has a 22.08, also her personal best, from earlier this summer. Dafne Schippers had a 22.09 in the same race that McGrone recorded her PR . Thompson, who had today's second fastest qualifying time at 22.13, has a season-best 22.10. Asher-Smith of Great Britain is the fourth woman in the elite quartet after posting the fastest semifinal round time with a 22.10.

McGrone is one of two runners competing in their first IAAF World, joining Thompson as rookies on this elite stage. Asher-Smith is the world junior champion in the 100 and is making her first IAAF meet appearance outside the junior level.

Veronica Campbell-Brown and Ivet Lalova-Collio are in their fourth World meet and have competed in the Olympics as well. Campbell-Brown is a two-time Olympic champion in the 200 while Lalova-Collio has run in three Olympic Games. Schippers and Sherone Simpson have run in two IAAF World meets and both have seen the Olympic stage. Schippers competed in the heptathlon in the London games and Simpson has run in two Olympic competitions. The other USA competitor, Jeneba Tarmoh, is competing in her third IAAF World.

McGrone was an All-American at OU in the indoor and the outdoor 200 after winning the NCAA title in the outdoor 100 in 2011. She owns the school records in the indoor 200 (22.84) and the outdoor 100 (11.08) and is ranked third all-time in the outdoor 200.

She ran a 22.45 in the qualifying round which ranked as the second fastest time, behind Asher-Smith's 22.22.

Brittany Borman (javelin) will be the final former Sooner to compete as her qualifying round in set for Friday evening with the final set for Sunday, Aug. 30.

Follow the action at IAAF.org. The site will feature live results and live streaming. Broadcast schedules are included on the site which lists all events in the reader's local time zone.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

McGrone Will Run in the 200 Final at IAAF

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