By Damian Lawlor in Rieti
In the sweltering heat of the early evening in Rieti Evelyn Kwik (DSD) went off conservatively in the fourth heat of the women’s 400m. The Dublin woman was able to judge her pace perfectly as Emilija Viksna from Latvia in the lane outside her has a personal best only one hundredth of a second faster than her own best mark for the distance.
As the stagger faded on the top bend Quik was in the thick of the fight for qualification. There was no sudden surge though and as she raced down the finishing straight she looked comfortable getting into the last of the three automatic qualifying spots. Her time of 55.58 is significantly slower than her PB of 54.61 so there is potential for Evelyn to be competitive in her semifinal.
Earlier in the second heat of the 400m
Aisling Shevlin (Ratoath) raced well to finish fifth in 55.87. After a quick start her race ended with a frantic sprint for the line. Aisling had to wait for four more heats to find out if she would secure qualification. After that tense wait she advanced to the semi-final.