James happy to be back with new kids on block

After battling an auto-immune disease for the past two years, Grenada's Kirani James is simply happy to be back on track at the World Championships.

The 2012 Olympic gold medallist breezed through his 400m heat at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha on Tuesday in what was only his fifth race since being diagnosed with Graves' disease in 2017.

The 27-year-old qualified for the semi-finals with the fastest time of the opening round, a brisk 44.94sec.

In April 2017, James was left slumped on the track at the Drake Relays in Iowa, barely able to summon any energy because of a mystery illness which had caused him to lose weight at an alarming rate.

Tests revealed he had Graves' disease, a condition that causes the thyroid to overproduce thyroxine, a hormone that accelerates the metabolism.

"It makes you lose a lot of weight, leaves you with no energy," James said Tuesday.

James has drawn inspiration from US sprinting legend Gail Devers, who overcame the same condition to become a two-time Olympic champion.

"When I got diagnosed, my coach said 'I remember Gail Devers had something like that'," James said. "So if she came back, we knew we could just follow a plan and get back.

"It took Gail two years to get back. I'm still on that two-year cycle, but I feel a lot better now than I did two years ago."
"If I wasn't on the medication, if it was at zero, I'd gain a lot of weight, be out of breath."
"I've been away for two years," he said. "I'm looking at the start lists and seeing names and saying 'Who's this guy? Who's this guy?'