BEIJING -- Team USA endured an evening without medals, but America’s star sprinters shone in qualifying rounds Tuesday night at the IAAF World Championships.

Allyson Felix, Phyllis Francis and Justin Gatlin breezed through their rounds of the women’s 400 and men’s 200, respectively, while Kerron Clement had the top performance in Team USA’s four finals on the night.

Felix, Francis bookend 400m finalists

Allyson Felix (Los Angeles) went out very hard in the final race of the women’s 400m semifinals and broke the stagger on the two lanes outside her by the 200m mark. She cruised around the final bend to win in a season-best 49.89, the fastest time of the day and her first sub-50 of the year. Phyllis Francis (Queens, New York) had a solid start in the second semi but was behind defending champion Christine Ohuruogu of Britain at the midway point. She ended third in a season-best 50.50 and was one of two time qualifiers into the final.

Natasha Hastings (Brooklyn, New York) was in the top two through the first 250m of her heat but dropped to fifth in 51.33 and did not advance.

Gatlin in the hunt for more hardware

Justin Gatlin (Pensacola, Florida) got his gold medal hunt off to a relatively easy start in the first round of the 200. The 100m silver medalist made up the stagger on three men outside him by the 50m point in heat four and then eased down the straightaway to win comfortably in 20.19. Isiah Young (Junction City, Kansas) started well and was leading coming off the turn in the first heat but faltered a bit over the last 50m to finish sixth in 20.51 and missed out on advancing to the semifinal. Wallace Spearmon (Fayetteville, Arkansas) withdrew from the event with a slight muscle tear in his left calf.

Clement fourth in 400H

The 2007 and 2009 world champion, Kerron Clement (La Porte, Texas), ran a sound race in the 400 hurdles, clocking a season’s best to finish just outside of medal contention, crossing fourth in 48.18. Mike Tinsley (Little Rock, Arkansas) was out well but hit the fifth hurdle and eighth hurdle, finishing eighth in 50.12

Rowbury, Simpson face tough challenge in 1,500

Team USA’s best gave a valiant effort but were not able to conquer the heavily tactical women’s 1,500m final. The early stages of the race gave new definition to “tactical,” with American record holder Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco) and 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson (Oviedo, Florida) leading the pack through the first lap in 77 seconds, or roughly 5:08 mile pace.

As they came around the 700 meter mark, passing the finish line, world record holder Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia surged instantly to the lead, with Simpson responding immediately and Rowbury keeping contact. Simpson lost her left shoe and at the bell, Rowbury was in sixth. Dibaba went on to win in 4:08.09, with Rowbury seventh in 4:12.39 and Simpson 11th in 4:16.28.

Throwers finish ninth, 11th

Whitney Ashley (Riverside, California) just missed out on advancing to the top eight with her third and final throw of the evening, registering a 61.05m/200-3 to close out her second World Championships appearance in ninth place. American record holder Gia Lewis-Smallwood (Champaign, Illinois) also started her evening with a foul but had a second throw of 60.55m/198-8 that proved to be her best of the evening, placing her 11th.

Men’s jumpers struggle with board

American jumpers struggled all night to hit the take-off board, with both men collectively turning in one legal jump in six attempts. Jeff Henderson (North Little Rock, Arkansas) had one legal mark in the second round of jumps, 7.95m/26-1, to place ninth. Mike Hartfield (Manchester, Connecticut) fouled three times.

Action continues in Beijing with Wednesday’s morning session and runs through Sunday, August 30.

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Full results from the IAAF World Championships can be found here.

Team USA Medals

Gold (1)

Joe Kovacs - Shot Put (21.93m/71-11.5)

Silver (1)

Justin Gatlin - 100 Meters (9.80)

Bronze (4)

Tori Bowie, 100 Meters (10.86)

Emily Infeld, 10,000 Meters (31:43.49)

Trayvon Bromell - 100 Meters (9.92)

Michelle Carter - Shot Put (19.76m/64-10)

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