BEIJING -- Highlighted by automatic qualifying performances in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, men’s 5,000 meters, men’s triple jump and women’s 800 meters, Team USA advanced 12 athletes out of qualifying rounds on Wednesday morning at the IAAF World Championships.

Reigning champ Oliver and Olympic champ Merritt win heats, Harris advances

Reigning world champion David Oliver (Kissimmee, Florida) powered through heat three and dominated the proceedings with a 13.15 that gave him the win by more than three meters. Aries Merritt (Atlanta) smoothly handled heat five, getting out well and leading all the way to win in 13.25. Aleec Harris (Atlanta) overcame a bit of a slower start to advance automatically in the fourth heat, crossing third in 13.41. Ronnie Ash (Passaic, New Jersey) was disqualified from his heat after a false start.

American 5000m trio shines as Team USA continues stellar distance performances

Ben True (North Yarmouth, Maine) looked strong throughout his 5000m heat, overcoming a competitor’s stumble with about 1000m remaining. True stayed to the front of the lead pack for most of the race and turned in an impressive final homestretch surge, qualifying automatically with a time of 13:45.09. True’s qualifying time was good for second behind defending World Championships silver medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet. The second heat was less about tactics and more about speed, as Galen Rupp (Portland, Oregon) and training partner Mo Farah took out a faster pace early. Ryan Hill (Hickory, North Carolina) stayed up towards the front as part of the lead pack and never looked to be in danger of not qualifying on time. Rupp recovered from a stumble with just over 100 meters to go but Hill and Rupp easily qualified on time in 13:19.67 and 13:20.78, respectively. A disqualification on Canada’s Mohamed Ahmed moved them up to fifth and seventh.

Craddock, Taylor automatically qualify for triple jump finals with big second leaps

A quartet of former NCAA Champions at the University of Florida reunited on the world stage Wednesday, with two advancing automatically to Thursday night’s final. Reigning Olympic and Diamond League champion Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Georgia) opened with a very safe 16.77m/55-0.25 and then went 17.28m/56-8.5 on his second jump to easily surpass the automatic qualifying standard. Reigning USATF champion Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) also picked up an auto berth in the final from Group A with a best of 17.01m/55-9.75 in round two. Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Delaware) hit 16.73m/54-10.75 on his second try in Group B and missed out on the final on the basis of second jumps, as Leevan Sands edged him out. Will Claye (Phoenix, Arizona) was 10th in Group A with a top mark of 16.41m/53-10.25 in round three and did not qualify for the final.

Ludlow, Martinez move on to 800m semis

Brenda Martinez (Rancho Cucamonga, California) was boxed in in sixth at the 400m mark of heat three and slowly moved into the top three with 250 to go. After briefly dropping back to fourth around the final bend she squeezed through a tiny gap on the outside of lane one and took third in 2:00.54 to automatically move on to the semifinal. Molly Ludlow (Worthington, Ohio) went through 400m in the first heat in third place in a very quick heat as the leader was at 57.06. The pace didn’t slow much through the second circuit, and Ludlow had to dig deep to finish sixth in 2:00.70, tying for the final time qualifier to the semifinal. Alysia Montaño (Canyon Country, California) was in good shape coming through the first lap of heat five in second place, and when the top four bunched up with 200m remaining, Montaño tripped and went down heavily. She got up and finished seventh in 2:09.57.

Olympians Bingson, Campbell advance to Thursday’s hammer final

Amber Campbell (Indianapolis, Indiana) only needed one throw in Group B, nailing a big 72.06m/236-5 on her first attempt to finish third in her flight and move into the final. Amanda Bingson (Las Vegas, Nevada) had the seventh-best throw in Group A at 69.99m/229-7 and advanced to the final with the 11th-best effort overall. DeAnna Price (Moscow Mills, Missouri) was 10th in Group A with a third-round best of 68.69m/225-4, and did not advance to the final.

Action continues in Beijing with Wednesday’s evening session and runs through Sunday, August 30.

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Full results from the IAAF World Championships can be found here.

Team USA Medals

Gold (1)

Joe Kovacs - Shot Put (21.93m/71-11.5)

Silver (1)

Justin Gatlin - 100 Meters (9.80)

Bronze (4)

Tori Bowie, 100 Meters (10.86)

Emily Infeld, 10,000 Meters (31:43.49)

Trayvon Bromell - 100 Meters (9.92)

Michelle Carter - Shot Put (19.76m/64-10)

Broadcast Schedule