Asher-Smith in contention for 200m gold after key names drop out

After taking silver in the 100m on Sunday, Asher-Smith will be licking her lips at the prospect of 200m gold after clocking the top time of 22.32 seconds in the opening heats with many of the medal favourites unable to make it to the starting blocks. While it was a surprise to see many of sprinting' s biggest names, including newly crowned 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, missing from the start list, the sight of thousands of empty seats at Khalifa Stadium has now become routine. Fraser-Pryce, who rocketed to 100m gold ahead of Asher-Smith, decided not attempt the double due to the effort put in on Sunday while Ivory Coast's bronze medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou was also a scratch having picked up an injury in final.