Ferdinand Omanyala qualified for his first world championship final by the narrowest of margins during Sunday's semifinals in Budapest, Hungary.

The Commonwealth champion placed outside of the top two spots for automatic qualification in Heat One, putting his fate up to the results of the ensuing heats.

Omanyala narrowly missed the cut because he advanced with the final spot available. Only the top two in each of the three semi-finals and the next two quickest runners went to the final.

The current world champion Fred Kerley, who exited the world championships in the biggest upset to date, paid a heavy price for his qualification.

Likewise, Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, who had been out of practice, finished sixth in the same heat as Omanyala at Budapest with a time of 10.05 seconds. The heat had been won by American Noah Lyles.

In a crowded race, Jacobs came in last, trailing Lyles, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown of Japan, who came in second, and Omanyala, who came in third.

After that, Kerley placed third in his semifinal in 10.02 seconds, trailing only Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and Oblique Seville of Jamaica.

The possible matchup between Kerley and Jacobs had dominated much of the lead-up to the world championships.

In a European record time of 9.80, Jacobs defeated the American to win the Olympic gold in Tokyo two years ago, but the two have not since competed on the track.

In Eugene last year, Kerley won the gold after Jacobs was forced to withdraw from his semifinal due to an injury.