Demetrius Pinder advances to Olympic 400m final

LONDON - Demetrius Pinder of the Bahamas was the lone Aggie sprinter competing in the London Olympics on Sunday to reach the final. Pinder will contest the 400-meter final on Monday evening.

In the semifinal Pinder placed second in a time of 44.94 behidn a 44.58 career best from Trinidad and Tobago's Lalonde Gordon. The top two in each of the three semifinal heats advanced to the final.

"It went well," noted Pinder. "I knew it was going to be a tough semi, but I was ready. I ran close to a season's best to make the final."

Another Texas A&M sprinter, Tabarie Henry of U.S. Virgin Islands, placed fifth in the same heat with Pinder as he clocked 45.19.

Joining Pinder in the final are 2011 World Champion Kirani James of Grenada, Chris Brown of Bahamas, Australia's Steven Solomon, Luguelin Santos of Dominican Republic and Belgium twins Kevin and Jonathan Borlee.

Pinder will be in lane eight for the final, which takes place at 9:30 p.m. in London (3:30 p.m. in Texas), with Kevin Borlee in lane nine. Inside of Pinder will be Santos (7) and Brown (6) with James in five.

Aggie sprinter Gerald Phiri raced in the 100m semifinals, placing fifth with a season best of 10.11. Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the heat in 9.87 with American Ryan Bailey second at  9.96 and Richard Thompson of Trinidad third at 10.02.

Later in the evening Bolt successfully defended his Beijing title with an Olympic record of 9.63 over fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake (9.75) and American Justin Gatlin (9.79).

In the 400 hurdles incoming Texas A&M athlete Janeil Bellille placed seventh in her opening round heat with a time of 57.27.

Pinder will be the lone Aggie in action on Monday, while Wayne Davis II contests the first round of the 110 hurdles on Tuesday morning.