BEIJING - Baylor track and field sprinter Trayvon Bromell claimed the 100-meter bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships with a time of 9.92 (-0.5m/s) Sunday at the Beijing National Stadium.

"I am truly proud of Trayvon tonight in the 100 meters," Baylor associate coach Michael Ford said. "He represented his family, St. Petersburg, Fla., Baylor Nation and of course the USA tonight. Winning a bronze medal at the World Champs is a great accomplishment."

"I told myself, 'This is the last 100 of the year, so go hard or go home,'" Bromell said. "Honestly, I didn't know where I was in the race, but to come here and be able to place is a blessing."

Running out of lane three, Bromell had the second-fastest reaction time (.135) of the entire nine-man field and appeared to have a slight lead through the first 15 meters. From there, eventual champion, Usain Bolt (9.79), and silver medalist Justin Gaitlin (9.80) pulled away from the field, but Bromell hung on for third. The junior-to-be tied for the bronze medal with Canada's Andre De Grasse, who had beaten Bromell in both the 100 and 200-meter finals at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Both men ran identical 9.911 to share the podium.

Advancing to the final was a challenge in itself as Bromell finished third in his semifinal heat with a time of 9.99 (-0.4m/s). That mark left the St. Petersburg, Fla., native waiting for the results of the final two semifinal races to see if he would qualify on time. In the end, Bromell's 9.99 was tied for the seventh-fastest time overall with two others, Jimmy Vicaut (France) and Bingtian Su (China). When the times were expanded to thousandths of seconds, Bromell was the fastest of the three to secure one of the two time-qualifying spots for the final. There was no difference between the times of Vicaut and Su, so the IAAF allowed a nine-man final.

NOTABLES
• Bromell is the first Baylor athlete to make a IAAF World Championships final since Jeremy Wariner finished second in the 400-meters in 2009.
• Two of Bromell's times in Beijing, his 9.91 in qualifying and the 9.92 in the final, rank tied for sixth and tied for eighth, respectively, in school history.
• Bromell now owns all of Baylor's top-10 marks in the event with times from 9.76 to 9.93. • Before Bromell's arrival the school record was 10.12.

WHAT'S NEXT
Bromell is slated to be a part of the United States' 4x100-meter relay quartet, which runs Friday at 11:20 p.m. CT in the opening round of action.

The IAAF World Championships air live on the NBC family of networks, with coverage spanning across NBC, Universal Sports, and NBC Live Extra.

To watch the events live visit universalsports.com.

To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.

COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
Q = qualified for next round of event
100 Meters
Men - Semifinal
3. Trayvon Bromell -- 9.99q [-0.4m/s]

100 Meters
Men - Final
3. Trayvon Bromell -- 9.92 [-0.5m/s]