By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

TOKYO, Japan — All things considered, Printassia Johnson was pleased with her personal best performance and a lane in the semifinal at the 20th World Championships.

On Tuesday night at the Japan National Stadium as she contested the semifinals, Johnson ran 50.81 seconds in the second of three heats to end up 17th in the world.

It’s not bad for someone who all her life felt she had the potential to be one of the country’s sprinters. Her performance has given her something to build on for the future as she gets set to venture full time  in the professional ranks.

“The fact that I made it to the semifinal, I’m grateful,” Johnson said. “In my first year as a quarter-miler, I’m still finding my 400m rhythm. I am not even doing quarter-miler training. I am doing sprints. So I’m quite impressed, but these girls will see next year for sure.”

One of them she was referring to was Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain who in lane five ran away from the field to win in 49.47 for the fourth fastest qualifying time.

American 400m hurdles record holder Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone, who made the switch to the 400m, had the fastest qualifying and world-leading time of 48.29, which also erased Sanya Richards-Ross’ previous record of 48.70 that she established on September 15, 2006.

Mclaughlin-Levrone’s time is now the seventh best, trailing two active competitors in Naser, whose lifetime best of 48.14 is third and Marileidy Paulino, who is next at 48.17 with her personal best.

The three will clash in the final here on Thursday at 10:24pm (9:24am EST) and the question is how close can they come to the world record of 47.60 that was set by Marita Kock of Germany on February 18, 1967. 

The second fastest time in history is 49.99, posted by Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovak on January 26, 1954.

It would have been even more interesting to see The Bahamas’ most decorated quarter-miler Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who is now eighth on the all-time list with her national record time of 48.36, in the mix, but she’s not here to defend her title from Eugene, Oregon, in 2022.

On the line for the final is a hefty $70,000 for the gold, $35,000 for the silver and $22,000 for the bronze. And if any of them achieve it, there is a lofty $100,000 to add to their earnings for the world record. And despite not advancing to the final, Johnson said she’s just pleased to make her first World Championship team in the 400m. She advanced to the semifinal with a personal best of 50.53 in the heats. However, when it counted the most to get into the final, Johnon got a taste of what she needs to do to be a contender on the international circuit.

She had to learn to run from the back of the race in lane three. She got off to a slow start and by the time got on the back stretch, Naser had already established control of the race. 

Coming off the final curve, tried to battle back in contention, but was only able to close the gap going through the tape, the automatic qualifiers, including Roxane Gomez of Cuba, who did a season’s best of 49.79, had already sealed the deal. 

“I knew I had Naser in front of me. I knew she was going to go hard, so the main thing was just to run my race and stay in the mix,” Johnson revealed.

“Even on the back stretch, I was trying to run my race and still pick it up so I could stay with them. Coming off the curve, I didn’t want to go too fast.

The top two finishes in the three heats automatically qualified and the next two fastest losers were awarded the final two spots. Naser and Gomzer were the only two to get out of Johnson’s heat. 

Coming from that sprinter mentality where everybody wants to shine in the glamor event, Johnson said she’s learnt that if athletes follow their calling and they work hard at it, they will succeed.

She chalked up her experience as a learning process. 

“Even though I may not like the 400, the 400 was what got me on my first World Championship team,” said Johnson, who credited her Bahamian coach Dominic Demeritte for guiding her into that direction when she transferred to Life University where he is the head coach.

“So I’m going to keep going in this 400 until I retire. The 200/400, the most you might see me run is the 4 x 1(00m relay).”

Johnson, who is expected to graduate from Life University this semester, indicated that there are plans for her to run one more meet for the year.

But she prefers to just shut it down, get some rest and prepare for her debut on the pro ranks.