Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati opened his men’s 100m campaign at the World Athletics Championships with a 10.30-second run that placed him sixth in Heat 5 on Saturday afternoon.

Azamati, drawn in a strong field, recorded a reaction time of 0.211 seconds, the slowest among the eight sprinters in the race. Despite a steady drive phase, he was unable to close the gap in the final metres against the faster finishers.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo won the heat in 10.07 seconds, securing automatic qualification to the semi-finals alongside Canada’s Andre De Grasse (10.16s) and the USA’s Courtney Lindsey (10.19s).

Rikkoi Brathwaite of the British Virgin Islands finished fourth in 10.23s, Germany’s Lucas Ansah-Peprah placed fifth in 10.25s, while Brazil’s Erik Cardoso came seventh in 10.32s. Dylan Sicobo of Seychelles completed the line-up in 10.85s.

Azamati’s time means he did not secure one of the three automatic qualifying spots from the heat, leaving his progression dependent on whether his performance ranks among the fastest non-automatic qualifiers across all heats.

The Ghanaian sprinter, who has consistently been part of his country’s relay and individual sprint efforts in recent years, now awaits confirmation of his status as the championship schedule moves towards the semi-finals on Sunday.