Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (centre) of Britain crosses the finish line ahead of Liang Jiahong (left) of China and Remaldo Rose of Jamaica during the 100 metres men's final of the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing, yesterday. Aikiness-Aryeetey won the gold with the time of 10.37 seconds. - Reuters

BEIJING, China:

BRONZE WAS the order of the day as Jamaica opened their medal count at the 11th IAAF World Junior Cham-pionships with two third-place finishes at the Chaoyang Sport Centre in the Chinese capital yesterday.

Yohan Blake and Carrie Russell gave the country its first two medals in the men's and women's sprints respectively.

Blake recovered from a poor start to secure the bronze in the men's 100 metres in 10.42, though he had to wait for quite some time to find out if he finished third after a very close race.

Great Britain's World Youth sprint double champion, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, won the event in 10.37 ahead of Canada's Justyn Warner (10.39).

Weakened

Russell, who narrowly missed the silver, weakened in the last 40m to capture third in 11.42, the same time as American Gabby Mayo. Tezdzhan Naimova of Bulgaria took the gold in 11.28.

Remaldo Rose, the bronze medal-list from Grosseto, finished fourth in 10.43 . He, however, despite obvious disappointment, gave credit to Blake.

"Congrats to Yohan for taking the bronze. Track and field is a very unfair game, so it's my time to lose," Rose said.

Rose believes he lost out on a medal because he "wasn't mentally prepared."

Jamaicans in 400m final

In the 400m semi-finals, all three Jamaicans, - Sonita Sutherland, Allodin Fothergill and Edino Steele, made it through to today's final.

Sutherland, the world junior leader at 51.13, leads the qualifiers in the women's event with a relaxed 51.67 seconds in the final of three semi-final heats.

Sutherland, who is favoured for gold, is set to battle Russian Kseniya Zadorina (51.94) and Sudan's Nawal El Jack (51.84).

Fothergill (46.68) and Steele (46.55) qualified as fastest losers. Both finished third in their respective heats.

United States-based Steele said he hopes to perform better in today's final.

"I am going to stick to what I do best, accelerate in the end," he said. "I didn't execute as well as I did on the first day but hopefully I will do better in the final," added the third fastest junior over the distance in the world this year.

Also, Jamaica will be well represented in the women's 400m hurdles final as Sherene Pinnock, bronze medallist from Grosseto, and national junior record holder at 55.61 seconds, Kaliese Spencer, easily secured their places in the championship event.

Spencer, who admitted after the semi-finals that she wasn't at her best, promised betters things in the final.

""My rhythm was gone, so I have to work on that in the final. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow," she said.

"I will go home tonight, think about it and come back tomorrow," she said after yesterday's semi-finals.

Pinnock, the CAC Junior Cham-pionships record holder, said they will be seeking two medals in the final.

"A medal on my behalf and certainly from Kaliese," was how she predicted the final outcome.

"We will be getting two medals in the 400m hurdles," added the 19-year-old.

The Jamaicans, however, will have to contend with United States' Nicole Leach, who has the fastest time of 56.10 seconds going into the final.

100m battle

On today's third day, Natasha Ruddock and Kettiany Clarke will battle rivals in the women's 100m hurdles while Triston Tailor will go it all alone in the men's 200m.

Anastasia Le-Roy and Naffene Briscoe will face the starter in the women's 200m.

In other finals on yesterday's second day, Bianca Perie of Romania broke the women's hammer throw championship record with 67.38m; Robert Crowther of Australia won the men's long jump final with a leap of 8.00m and Margus Hunt of Estonia threw 67.32m to beat her own world junior record of 66.35m set on the opening day.