World Athletics Championships live: Updates, times and results as Josh Kerr goes for 1500m gold

Two-time world 110m hurdles champion, Colin Jackson, reacted to Dina Asher-Smith’s heat.

He said: “I like that a lot. Dina Asher-Smith looked very comfortable.

“She is shining a light for sprinting in Europe. Very comfortable indeed.

“She will say she likes all of her sprints evenly – of course you always want to do your best in whatever event you are in. But she has so much experience in 200m, she was the World Champion.

“I love to see what I am seeing. She will rest well tonight.”

One of the biggest disappointments of this year’s World Championships was Molly Caudery’s injury during the warm-ups for the women’s pole vault qualifiers.

That means there are no Brits competing for the medals. On top of that Olympic and world champion Nina Kennedy is also absent through injury so the field is wide open.

Katie Moon of the United States is the favourite while Brazil’s Juliana De Menis Campos and New Zealand’s Imogen Ayris unexpectedly topped the rankings in qualifying.

The first of the men’s 200m heats is just beginning. Great Britain’s Toby Harries is racing in the first one and has a tough field.

The top three qualify from each heat with the net six quickest times also going through to the semi-finals.

Harries set a personal best 200m time of 20.22 back in April. He’s out of the blocks well but loses time through the turn and final straight eventually finishing seventh.

Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic takes the win with 20.10.

The first Brit to qualify for the women’s 200m, Daryll Neita, spoke after her race about her focus going forward.

She said: “The goal was to make it through qualifying and make it through to the next day. I did that today so it’s fine, I can go recover and come back tomorrow.

“It looks good, it feels great to be back out here. I’m obviously very disappointed that I didn’t make the 100m final but I’m feeling confident about this event.

“I can take [that disappointment] as fuel, put it in a box and move on.”

One heat to go. Dian Asher-Smith runs in this sixth and final race.

The Brit seems focused and in control.

Her closest competitors seem to be Australia’s Torrie Lewis and Spain’s Jael Bestue.

A time of 23.04 or better should be enough to get her through.

Asher-Smith is quickly away and sprints alongside Lewis. She moves well through the final 100m and wins the heat in 22.40.

She seemed very comfortable through that heat as well. Good signs.

She’s running in the penultimate heat and flies the flag for Britain.

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson is the one to beat and runs in lane nine. Hunt is ranked ninth in the world and has a good rhythm this season.

Hunt starts okay but it’s an even race over the first few metres. Hunt powers herself through the corner and gets out in front.

A quick glance over to Jackson shows she’s doing well enough and the Brit eases off to finish second with a time of 22.57.

That’s her into the next round.

All eyes are on Daryll Neita for this next heat – at least for the British fans.

Neita is up there with Dina Asher-Smith for Britain’s female sprinting hopes and will believe she has the ability to challenge for the medals in this event.

Neita is racing against Brittany Brown of the USA who is ranked No.1 in the world for the women’s 200m. She won the Diamond League in Zurich and qualified for the heats through a wildcard.

The sprinters set off with Neita away cleanly. She rounds the corner well and has competition from Brown and Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas.

Both of those edge ahead of her and Neita finishes third with a time of 22.59. That’s a similar time to the finishers in heat two and three.

Onto heat number three now.

Mckenzie Long has stern look on her face as she lines up for the USA. Her main competitors in this race are Jamaica’s Ashanti Moore and Sweden’s Julia Henriksson.

The American is the favourite and highest ranked of the the runners in this heat.

The gun sounds and they power away from the start line with Moore and Long both off to strong starts.

Both women start to pull away with Long taking the win in 22.51 seconds and Moore clocking a 22.57.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden makes a laser-quick start. Jessica Gbai of the Ivory coast looks strong too…

The 100m champion wins in 22.24, fellow American Thelma Davies takes second in 22.76, and Gbai hangs on for third in 22.81.

For those on Brit-watch, the Brits are in the later heats: Daryll Neita in four, Amy Hunt in five, and Dina Asher-Smith in the sixth and final heat.

Up next, 100m champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is surely going to storm this one, with the form that she’s in.