Jamaica’s Antonio Watson Disqualified from Commonwealth Games 400m Semi-final After Lane Infringement

Jamaica: Antonio Watson, a Jamaican 400m runner was disqualified from the men’s 400m semi-final after a lane-infringement at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday, July 30. Watson finished second in the third semi-final but was later disqualified.

However, Watson’s teammate Zandrion Barnes advanced to the final as Jamaica’s only representative.

Barnes, who finished third in his semi-final in 45.38 seconds advanced with the fourth-fastest qualifying time overall.

Watson had finished second before being disqualified for the lane infringement. Nigeria’s Edidiong Udo was promoted to second place after Watson’s disqualification, while Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards won the semi-final.

Watson’s disqualification came after a strong 2026 season. He won his first Jamaican senior 400m title in June at the JAAA National Senior Championships, clocking 44.73 seconds.

He then improved his season-best time to 44.70 seconds at the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 10. He finished second in the race.

Watson is also the 2023 World Athletics champion in the men’s 400m. He won the title in Budapest, Hungary, with a time of 44.22 seconds.

He became the first Jamaican to win the men’s 400m world title after his victory in Budapest since Bert Cameron won the event at the inaugural World Athletics Championships in 1993. 

Jamaica had won eight athletics medals at the Commonwealth Games by the end of competition on Thursday, including four gold, two silver and two bronze. The country was third on the athletics medals table, behind Australia and Canada, which had 11 medals each.

Watson’s disqualification means Jamaica will now rely on Barnes in the men’s 400m final, which is scheduled for Saturday, August 1.