Chantel Malone (left) recorded a distance of 6.40m in the qualifying round of the women's Long Jump at the World Championships, but her effort left her outside the required distance to progress. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Anguillan Shara Proctor, who now competes for Team GB, led the qualifiers with her best leap of 6.83m. Photo: Supplied

Tahesia Harrigan-Scott running in lane 6 had a time of 11.61 in her heat of the 100m event but that left her outside qualifying for the semi-finals. Photo: Supplied

Malone kicked off the competition for team BVI in the Women’s Long Jump and recorded a best distance of 6.40 metres to finish 21^st overall, an improvement on her 6.35m effort at the C.A.C Senior Championships back in early July, but well short of some previous leaps of 6.57 in Canada and Jamaica and less than expected at the Championships.

Shara Proctor, who is from Anguilla but competes for Great Britain, claimed one of the automatic qualification spots for the next round with her leap of 6.85 and finished with the best distance in the qualifying round.

Brittany Reese (USA) has won five successive global Long Jump titles, but for a moment it looked as though the defending champion wouldn’t make it out of qualifying. As it happened, she scraped through in 12th place – and even then, only just doing so on count-back. The Olympic champion from the USA opened with 6.57m, and then replicated it in the second round, both marks having the same wind reading of -0.2m/s. She didn’t improve in the final round, leaving Funmi Jimoh as the final athlete in the round with the chance to displace her. Jimoh, who also had a best mark of 6.57m, fouled her final effort, leaving her one place adrift of Reese in 13th place overall.

Bermudan Arantxa King finished 23^rd overall with a leap of 6.36 and Bahamian Bianca Stuart came 24^th (6.35m)

Tahesia Harrigan- Scott running in heat 2 of the 100m came home in 11.61 to finish 6^th and outside the qualification spots for the semi finals. Her time placed her 31^st overall

The two fastest women in the world this year did the bare minimum required to win their 100m heats; in stark contrast, USA’s English Gardner sped to the fastest first-round clocking ever at the World Championships.

USA’s Octavious Freeman hadn’t raced since taking silver at her National Championships with her sensational PB of 10.87. All eyes were on the 21-year-old in the first heat to see what she would do, but instead it was Germany’s Verena Sailer who dominated the race.

The 2010 European champion got off to a great start and maintained it to the end, winning in 11.11 - the fastest time by a German woman at the World Championships since 1999. Freeman had no trouble in gaining one of the three automatic qualifying spots, but her 11.16 in second place was some way short of her best.

Jamaica’s Kerron Stewart impressed in the second heat, winning comfortably in 11.02, her fastest time at a global championships since 2009 when she took silver in the 100m in Berlin. USA’s Alexandria Anderson, another athlete who ran well below 11 seconds at the US Championships, was a metre behind in second with 11.13, with Britain’s 2007 World youth champion Asha Philip taking third in 11.29.

Gardner, the US champion with a lifetime best of 10.85, was the only athlete to back up her performance from Des Moines in June. Seemingly treating her heat like a final, she blasted out of the blocks and ran full-throttle to the finish, clocking 10.94 into a -0.5m/s headwind.

European champion Ivet Lalova was a distant second in 11.18 with Jamaica’s Sheri-Ann Brooks further back in third with 11.32.

Next up was two-time Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The Jamaican got off to her customary good start before easing down at half way. The rest of the field then began to gain on her, but she sped up just enough before the finish line to take the win in a comfortable 11.15.

Brazil’s Franciela Krasucki was just a whisker behind in 11.17 as Nigeria’s Gloria Asumnu took the third automatic spot with 11.27.

In the following heat, Blessing Okagbare, who beat Fraser-Pryce in their last clash before Moscow, adopted the same ‘just-enough-to-win’ approach as her Jamaican rival. The Nigerian looked almost too easy for it to be an 11.03 clocking, but it sent a gentle reminder to her opponents that there is plenty more in the bag.

Brazil’s Ana Claudia Silva led for much of the way before being overtaken by Okagbare, taking second in 11.08 ahead of Jamaica’s Schillonie Calvert.

Defending champion Carmelita Jeter went in the sixth and last heat. Sheniqua Ferguson of The Bahamas got off to a superb start, only to be caught by Jeter and Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast. Jeter eased off the gas in the final stages, but didn’t look quite as fluid as the other medal contenders, allowing Ahoure to take the win, 11.22 to 11.24 with Ferguson in third.

All four representatives from the USA and Jamaica qualified automatically for tomorrow’s semi-finals, but Okagbare and Ahoure are still in the hunt to become the first ever African medalist in this event at the World Championships.