by Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland

Nickel Ashmeade of Jamaica was denied a gold medal by one-hundredth of a second in the men's 200 metres final at the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, yesterday.

Running out of lane five, Ashmeade was clipped on the line by the fast-finishing Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre.

Jamaica's medal tally at the meet now stands at one gold, won by Dexter Lee on Wednesday, and Ashmeade's silver.

Ashmeade said he wanted to do better, but the temperature which was in the 60s, affected him a lot.

But he added: "I'm very happy that I won a medal. However, I'm not happy with the time, since I did not do a personal best. I felt good off the curve, but in the straight I felt a little tight because of the cold breeze." Natasha Ruddock, Shermaine Williams and the sprint relay teams will try to add to Jamaica's medal tally on today's penultimate day of the meet.

semi-final

Williams and Ruddock, both silver medallists from the 2007 and 2005 World Youth Championships, respectively, will try to save face with at least one medal today.

Both advanced to today's final of the women's 100m hurdles after second-place finishes in yesterday's semi-finals.

Williams was second in semi-final two in 13.37, the same position for Ruddock in semi-final three in 13.79.

Williams, a student at Johnson C Smith University, is eyeing a medal.

"If I focus on my lane and do what I was taught in training, I should be able to win a medal," she said.

Ruddock, a student at Essex County College, said: "I am just happy that I am in the final; now I can focus on winning a medal."

sprint relays

In the sprint relays, both the men's and women's teams have advanced to today's final.

The women's team of Danielle Jeffrey, Kaycea Jones, Gayon Evans and Shawna Anderson won their heat in a season best 44.55 and enter today's final with the fifth-fastest time.

The quartet of Oshane Bailey, 100m champion Dexter Lee, Rasheed Dwyer and Yohan Blake, stopped the clock in a world junior leading 39.62, which lasted until the United States, running in heat three, lowered the mark to 39.37.

In the women's 200m, Jura Levy finished eighth in 23.95 seconds. Bahamian sprinter Sheniqua Ferguson led a Caribbean sweep of the medals. Ferguson crossed the line in 23.24 ahead of Meritzer Williams of St Kitts (23.40) and Janelle Redhead of Grenada (23.52).

Earlier, in the women's 400m hurdles, Nikita Tracey was eighth in 59.05, her slowest time over the three days.

Tracey blamed poor technique for her low placing. "I shuffled over all the hurdles," she explained.