TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s quarter-milers Deon Lendore, Dwight St Hilaire and Machel Cedenio, cruised into the semifinal round of the men’s 400 metres at the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Saturday night (TT time).

Lendore produced TT’s fastest qualifying time in 45.14 seconds, finishing his race in second place and ninth overall among the field of 47 runners, earning him an automatic spot in the semifinals.

He joined St Hilaire and Cedenio, who advanced to the semifinals just moments before. St Hilaire, however, had to wait for the heats to finish to confirm his spot.

He clocked 45.41 seconds to finish second in heat three. Cedenio, meanwhile, placed third in heat six in 45.56 seconds.

USA’s Michael Cherry led the heats, clocking 44.82 seconds. The region was otherwise well represented with Jonathan Jones of Barbados, Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas and Grenada’s 2012 Olympic gold medallist Kirani James easing into the semifinals.

The semifinals will run on Monday night (TT time), followed by the final three days later.