Bassitt wins heat, reaches semifinals

PARIS – Trevor Bassitt said he was disappointed with his performance in his Olympic debut Monday in Paris.On Tuesday, the former state champion hurdler from Bluffton got back on track.After running fifth in his heat in the first round of the men's 400 meter hurdles (49.39), and being forced into the Repechage Round, Bassitt ran a 48.64, won his heat, and advanced to this afternoon's semifinal.Bassitt had the second-fastest time in the Repechage Round, finishing just .01 behind Germany's Emil Agyekum.The top two finishers in each heat advanced to today's semis.In a television interview, NBC's Lewis Johnson asked Bassitt how he improved on his first-round performance."Just control the controllables," Bassitt said. "Yesterday I was caught off guard with the whole process, the stadium, the crowd. So, there was nothing surprising me today. I was able to lock in, focus, execute from the start."Bassitt will run in the first heat of today's semifinals, set to begin at 1:45 p.m. He will need to place in the top two of the heat, or have one of the next two best times overall, to qualify for Thursday's final.It doesn't figure to be easy.Bassitt entered Paris eighth in the world rankings. In his heat today will be 2020 gold medalist and world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway, as well as Brazil's Alison Dos Santos, who is third in the world rankings.But Bassitt was confident in Tuesday's postrace interview. When Johnson asked the hurdler about his goals, the former Pirate was direct. "A medal," Bassitt said. "A medal, sub-47 (time), that's the goal. I didn't do myself any favors (Monday), but it's good. We're still alive, and that's all that matters."