2019

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Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo

Seiko Golden Grand Prix

2019 Nanjing World Challenge

Paavo Nurmi Games

Irena Szewińska Memorial

ORLEN Memoriał Janusza Kusocińskiego

Golden Spike Ostrava 2019

Gyulai István Memorial Hungarian GP

Németh Pál Memorial

IAAF World Championships in Athletics

World Athletics Challenge - Hammer Throw

Hammer Throw

Pawel Fajdek in action at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Chorzow

Bence Halasz in action in the hammer in Szombathely

Anita Wlodarczyk after winning the hammer at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Turku

Tuesday evening (11) at the 57th Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku was perfect in many ways.
A record attendance of 13,345 witnessed a high standard of competition across all international events at the IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge meeting. The weather &ndash; with the temperature at 25C at the start and 21C at the end &ndash; made athletes&rsquo; lives easier too.
And while the island in the Turku archipelago that was on offer for anyone who broke the Finnish all-comers&rsquo; record in the men&rsquo;s javelin or discus may not have got a new owner, Finnish all-comers&rsquo; records fell in two other events.
World and Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk returned to top form, winning the women&rsquo;s hammer with a season&rsquo;s best of 75.61m. The Pole, making her second competitive appearance of the season, had three throws beyond 75 metres with her winning mark coming in the third round. It added more than a metre to the Finnish all-comers&rsquo; record of 74.29m that she had set when winning the 2012 European title.
Compatriot Joanna Fiodorow was second with a season&rsquo;s best of 74.71m while China&rsquo;s Wang Zheng &ndash; the current IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge leader &ndash; was third with 73.52m.
The other Finnish all-comers&rsquo; record came in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles, albeit in the heats.
USA&rsquo;s Christina Clemons ran an easy 12.58 to win her heat, moving to fourth on the 2019 world list. But despite good conditions for the final, the winning time was slower than the earlier round. Clemons won comfortably in 12.85 ahead of Finland&rsquo;s Annimari Korte (13.02) and Nooralotta Neziri (13.06). Neziri had earlier clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 12.99 to win the other heat.
<h3>Kirt victorious</h3>
Estonia&rsquo;s Magnus Kirt repeated his javelin victory from last year &ndash; and nearly even matched his winning distance &ndash; while there was also some delight for the home crowd as two younger Finns obtained the qualifying standard for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
Kirt led from the start, opening with 86.92m. Olympic and European champion Thomas R&ouml;hler also started well, 86.33m, but didn&rsquo;t improve in the next five rounds and was once again unable to beat the Estonian. 
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Javelin winner Magnus Kirt at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Turku</div>
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Kirt produced his best throw, 88.32m, in round four. Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott finished third with a season&rsquo;s best of 86.09m, his best mark since finishing third in Turku in 2017 with 86.48m.
Twenty-two-year-old Oliver Helander of Finland was fourth with a season&rsquo;s best of 84.84m, the third-best throw of his career. Germany&rsquo;s Bernhard Seifert was fifth with 84.02m while Finland&rsquo;s Toni Kuusela produced a surprising 83.40m &ndash; a PB by nearly three metres &ndash; to place sixth.
There were surprises in the men&rsquo;s discus, too, as world leader Daniel St&aring;hl of Sweden fouled all of his three attempts. His first effort, a narrow foul, landed beyond 66 metres but his two other throws were nowhere near.
Jamaica&rsquo;s Fedrick Dacres capitalised on St&aring;hl&rsquo;s mistake and won with a stadium record of 66.74m. Olympic champion Christoph Harting reached a season&rsquo;s best of 66.01m for second place.
<h3>Zhu shows promise</h3>
China&rsquo;s Zhu Yaming showed flashes of huge potential in the triple jump. The 25-year-old won with a wind-assisted 17.36m (2.6m/s) but was nowhere near the board with his take-off. He also recorded a wind-legal season&rsquo;s best of 17.21 on his last attempt.
USA&rsquo;s Donald Scott was second with 17.05m and Finland&rsquo;s Simo Lipsanen third with a 16.57m season&rsquo;s best.
USA&rsquo;s Chase Ealey won the women&rsquo;s shot put with a stadium record of 19.38m but stopped throwing after the fourth round as she twisted her ankle. Jamaica&rsquo;s world indoor silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd was second with 19.03m.
Mike Rodgers edged US compatriot Justin Gatlin for a tight win in the 100m, clocking a season&rsquo;s best of 10.00 to the world champion&rsquo;s 10.01. Canada&rsquo;s Crystal Emmanuel clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 11.19 to win the women&rsquo;s 100m ahead of Shania Collins (11.22).
USA&rsquo;s Andy Bayer won the 3000m steeplechase in 8:18.29, beating last year&rsquo;s winner Kenyan Nicholas Bett (8:21.20). Finland&rsquo;s Topi Raitanen took seven seconds off his PB to finish third in 8:21.47.
Kenyan Cornelius Tuwei was fastest in the 800m in 1:46.37 while Uganda&rsquo;s Winnie Nanyondo clocked 4:06.21 for a narrow win and stadium record in the 1500m. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Taye Fantu was second in a 4:06.27 season&rsquo;s best.
Brazil&rsquo;s Eduardo de Deus clocked a personal best of 13.42 to win the 110m hurdles with Italian Hassane Fofana a close second in 13.44, also a PB.
With Jenn Suhr being unable to jump, Canadian Alysha Newman won the pole vault with a 4.62m stadium record. Bulgaria&rsquo;s Gabriela Petrova topped the triple jump with a wind-aided 14.29m, also recording a wind-legal 14.22m season&rsquo;s best.
Twenty-year-old Ella Junnila cleared a national record of 1.94m to win the high jump. She now joins her mother Ringa Ropo as a national record-holder; Ropo holds the Finnish long jump record at 6.85m.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF

Tuesday evening (11) at the 57th Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku was perfect in many ways.

Wlodarczyk back on top while Kirt wins again in Turku

As is often the case at the Paavo Nurmi Games, throwing events will take centre stage at the IAAF World Challenge meeting with world leader Daniel St&aring;hl and Olympic champions Anita Wlodarczyk and Thomas Rohler set to compete in Turku on Tuesday (11).
The 57th edition of the meeting will have better weather than the past few editions as it is set to be sunny with temperatures about 20C. It could also help the competitors in the men&rsquo;s discus and javelin in their bid to break the Finnish all-comers&rsquo; records (70.98m and 93.09m respectively). Should they succeed, they will become the owner of an island in the Turku archipelago.
Swedish discus thrower Daniel St&aring;hl heads to Turku in great form. Having competed just twice this season, his eight measured throws average a phenomenal 69.83m. Competing in his secondary hometown of Turku, St&aring;hl, having already thrown a world-leading 70.56m in Doha, is a big favourite for the win but faces stiff opposition. 
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Daniel Stahl after winning the discus at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha</div>
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Fedrick Dacres is coming to the meet from quite a different angle. The 25-year-old Jamaican has already competed 12 times this season and in the past 12 days has recorded three straight competitions beyond 68 metres. He finished just 61cm centimetres behind St&aring;hl in Stockholm with a season&rsquo;s best of 68.96m and then won with 68.64m in Halle and 68.10m in Kingston.
Magnus Kirt will be looking for a repeat victory in the javelin after winning in Turku last year with 88.73m. The Estonian will start as the favourite, having opened his season with an 89.33m throw in Vantaa and an 87.65m win in Tartu at the Gustav Sule Memorial.
Olympic champion Thomas R&ouml;hler has already competed five times this year, his most recent performance being an 82.56m win in Jena on Saturday. Fellow German Bernhard Seifert threw a big 89.06m personal best a couple of weeks ago, but has been a few metres short of that distance in his two most recent competitions.
Multiple world and Olympic hammer champion Anita Wlodarczyk is competing at the Paavo Nurmi Games &ndash; also part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge &ndash; for the first time in her long and distinguished career. The Pole will be aiming to extend her season&rsquo;s best beyond the 73.64m she threw on her season&rsquo;s debut in Nanjing a few weeks ago. 
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Anita Wlodarczyk registers another victory in Ostrava</div>
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China&rsquo;s Wang Zheng, the winner in Nanjing, heads to Turku off the back of seven consecutive wins and a season&rsquo;s best of 75.66m.
USA&rsquo;s Donald Scott is the favourite in the men&rsquo;s triple jump. The 27-year-old recently jumped a PB of 17.43m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome last week.
Uganda&rsquo;s Winnie Nanyondo has been impressive over 1500m so far this season. In her two outdoor starts, she first broke the national record with 4:01.39 in Shanghai and followed it with 4:01.49 just three days later in Nanjing.
World leader Jenn Suhr goes against Canada&rsquo;s Alysha Newman in the pole vault. 37-year-old Suhr has cleared 4.91m this season, while 24-year-old Newman arrives fresh from a 4.76m national record last week.
USA&rsquo;s Chase Ealey and Jamaica&rsquo;s Danniel Thomas-Dodd are the top names in the women&rsquo;s shot put and both have gone well beyond 19 metres this season.
Following a recent win at the FBK Games, two-time world indoor champion Nia Ali will be looking for another victory in the 100m hurdles. She&rsquo;ll take on world indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons and the two fastest Finnish women of all time: Nooralotta Neziri and Annimari Korte.
Mirko Jalava (organisers) for the IAAF

As is often the case at the Paavo Nurmi Games, throwing events will take centre stage at the IAAF World Challenge meeting with world leader Daniel Ståhl and Olympic champions Anita Wlodarczyk and Thomas Rohler set to compete in Turku on Tuesday (11).

Ståhl, Wlodarczyk and Kirt among the favourites in Turku

Hammer world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk made her eagerly-awaited 2019 debut in Nanjing last night, and by the lofty standards she has set over the past decade, it was a modest opening.
She didn&rsquo;t even reach the 70-metre line until the third round with a 72.72m effort, before topping out with a 73.64m in round four to finish third on the night. For the Pole, a sub-par evening. But the four-time world champion was nonetheless very pleased.
&ldquo;For the first competition of the season, it was very good, I&rsquo;m quite happy,&rdquo; she said.
Wlodarczyk underwent surgery on her right ankle to repair a torn ligament last October, and is delighted that she&rsquo;s already back in competition.
&ldquo;At that time I did not think that I would start the season in May, but I managed to get back to training quickly, and I'm healthy &ndash; that's the most important thing.&rdquo;
She only resumed training about two months ago, but given her pedigree, the setback will likely be a minor one as she sets out to earn a fifth world title &ndash; a potential record haul in a women&rsquo;s throwing event &ndash; in Doha later this year, and a third Olympic crown in Tokyo the next.
When you&rsquo;ve accomplished what Wlodarczyk has, that&rsquo;s all that&rsquo;s left to do: collect more titles and break more records. 
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Anita Wlodarczyk in action at the IAAF Continental Cup Ostrava 2018</div>
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&ldquo;My main motivation is to improve my records,&rdquo; she admits. &ldquo;I still have great motivation to train. I have won everything there is to win in the hammer throw but I want to fight for setting a new world record and winning a third Olympic gold medal. I still think I can break my world record.&rdquo;
She said she&rsquo;ll compete at least through the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, perhaps longer.
&ldquo;That will be my fourth Olympic Games, but will I finish my sports career in Tokyo? I do not know that yet.&rdquo;
<h3>The secret behind the domination</h3>
Now 33, Wlodarczyk has been the key fixture on the women&rsquo;s hammer scene since 2009, when she fought her way to the world title in an epic battle with Germany&rsquo;s Betty Heidler at the World Championships in Berlin. It took a world record &ndash; her first &ndash; to clinch that title. She&rsquo;s broken it five times since, with the mark now standing at 82.98m, and pocketed just about every title available to her over the ensuing decade. 
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Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk in action in the hammer in London</div>
&nbsp;
As a measure of Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s dominance, Heidler sits second on the world all-time list with 79.42m &ndash; a mark that Wlodarczyk has bettered 31 times in competition. In women&rsquo;s hammer-throwing history, there have been 75 throws beyond 78 metres. Wlodarczyk owns 70 of those marks.
Wlodarczyk gives the bulk of the credit for her success and longevity to coach Krzysztof Kaliszewski who has guided her for most of her career.
&ldquo;My best form always came at the World Championships, the Olympic Games or the European Championships,&rdquo; she said, underscoring Kaliszewski&rsquo;s ability to prepare her for when it matters most. &ldquo;If you can win gold medals for 10 years, it shows your professionalism and the hard work you do.&rdquo;
The rest of that credit she gives to her ability to focus and compete even against herself when necessary.
&ldquo;During my career I have learned that you have to focus only on yourself. I learned to overcome my weaknesses first and then to compete against myself &ndash; which in the beginning was not an easy task. If you go to a competition and have a few metres advantage over your friends, you must learn to find the motivation to fight with yourself. Sport taught me that fight.&rdquo; Adjusting to and trusting training systems and knowing how to properly recover were also key, she added.
Even between 2014 and 2017, when she was building an unbeaten streak that would finally end after 42 consecutive victories, she didn&rsquo;t allow pressure or expectations to get the best of her. 
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Anita Wlodarczyk at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;The fact that I won everything for four years, I knew that one day the day would come when someone would beat me. This shows that I am a human, not a robot. But I did not feel any pressure and I still do not feel it. I focus on myself.&rdquo;
Wlodarczyk shared the stage with Olympic legends Lasse Viren and Sebastian Coe at the opening of the IAAF Heritage Exhibition in Doha last month to present to the collection the first women&rsquo;s hammer that sailed beyond 80 metres. It was a proud moment for Wlodarczyk, who in many observers&rsquo; eyes is one of the sport&rsquo;s true active legends.
&ldquo;I am very happy that I was able to take part in the opening of the Doha exhibition. It was nice to be among the legends of world athletics.&rdquo;
She&rsquo;ll be looking to add to that legend when she returns to Doha in less than four months&rsquo; time.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Hammer world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk made her eagerly-awaited 2019 debut in Nanjing last night, and by the lofty standards she has set over the past decade, it was a modest opening.

Strong focus the key to Wlodarczyk’s longevity

World leads by Lijiao Gong and Gudaf Tsegay were among the highlight performances at the inaugural Nanjing World Challenge on Tuesday (21).
Competing before an appreciative crowd of more than 12,000 at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Gong, who suffered a rare defeat on home turf in Shanghai on Saturday, avenged that loss with a flourish as the attention of the athletics world moved 300 kilometres to the west.
Shaking out the rust with an 18.90m throw in the first round, the world champion took command with a 19.42m toss in the second before blasting a 19.84m effort in the third to effectively put the competition out of reach. Underscoring her evening form, she closed off with a 19.77m effort.
"I'm pretty happy for what I achieved today," Gong said. "I'm training for late in the season so it's nice to win early season at home. Next time I'll try to reach 20 metres."
Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Shanghai winner Chase Ealey of the US each reached 19.21m, with the former taking second on countback. 
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Gudaf Tsegay wins the 1500m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Nanjing</div>
&nbsp;
Tsegay, who was edged out at the line by just a tenth of a second in Shanghai three days ago, learned from that and left no room for her pursuers here, holding her position over the final 30 metres en route to a 3:59.57 clocking, the fifth fastest performance of her career.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian held off compatriot Axumawit Embaye, who clocked a 4:00.17 lifetime best, and Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, who improved her season&rsquo;s best to 4:00.53.
<h3>Infield victories for Wang and Wang</h3>
There were two more victories on the infield for China, courtesy of Wang Yu in the high jump and Wang Zheng in the women&rsquo;s hammer.
Wang Zheng, who captured the Asian title last month, pulled off a minor upset here, throwing 75.27m for her second Hammer Throw Challenge victory in just over 48 hours. Astonishingly, her best performance here equalled her winning effort in Osaka on Sunday.
DeAnna Price of the US was second with 74.21m with world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk, who was making her 2019 debut, third, with a 73.64m best.
Wang Yu, meanwhile, topped 2.31m on his first attempt, a season&rsquo;s best, before bowing out with three tries at 2.33m. The Shanghai winner was pleased but at the post-meeting press conference asked local journalists to temper their expectations.
&ldquo;I'm not in a hurry (to break records),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I need to improve step by step.&rdquo;
<h3>Sprint hurdles wins for Ortega and McNeal</h3>
The sprint hurdles are popular events in China, and both of the loaded men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s fields delivered thrillers.
In the men&rsquo;s 110m race, Olympic gold and silver medallists Omar McLeod and Orlando Ortega were nearly stride-for-stride over the first nine barriers before the Spaniard marginally pulled ahead on the lean to take the win by 0.01 in 13.27.
The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles was even closer with the first four crossing the line within just 0.02. Here, Olympic champion Brianna McNeal closed well to out-dip Nia Ali, both credited with 12.78. Christina Clemons, who led early on, was third in 12.79 with Queen Harrison fourth, another 0.01 back.
One of the best finishes of the night came courtesy of Japan&rsquo;s Takatoshi Abe, who ran down five competitors over the final straight of the 400m hurdles to collect his first victory of the season. The 27-year-old clocked 49.16, holding off Pole Patryk Dobek and David Kendziera of the US, who clocked 49.23 and 49.27, respectively.
<h3>Amos impresses</h3>
Nijel Amos took another decisive 800m victory, his second in as many outings this season. Similarly to his world leading win in Doha 18 days ago, Amos was dominant down the homestretch en route to a 1:44.38 clocking, .09 shy of his world lead. Kenyan Cornelius Tuwei was a distant second in 1:44.91 with Jonathan Kitilit third (1:45.58).
In the women&rsquo;s race, Shanghai 1500m winner Rababe Arafi put on another strong homestretch performance to nearly pull off another victory on her Chinese tour but was ultimately denied by Nelly Jepkosgei. The Kenyan won by a scant 0.04 in 1:59.98 to notch the biggest international victory of he career.
Benjamin Kigen won the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase in 8:08.94, his second fastest time ever, pulling away from Abraham Kibiwot over the last 200 metres. Kibiwot clocked 8:10.27.
<h3>Another clutch performance for Taylor</h3>
With Pedro Pablo Pichardo kept away by visa issues, the triple jump competition came down to a face-off between world champion Christian Taylor and world leader Omar Craddock. Again it was Taylor who prevailed after delivering a clutch performance in the final round, reaching 17.47m to pull ahead of Craddock, who bounded out to 17.40m in round two. Craddock dug deep in the competition&rsquo;s final round but came up just short, improving to 17.42m.
Briton Jazmin Sawyers celebrated her 25th birthday with a victory in the long jump, reaching a season&rsquo;s best of 6.56m in the fifth round to overtake Australian Naa Anang, who reached 6.52m in both rounds two and six.
Olympic champion Thomas Rohler of Germany and Czech Jakub Vadlejch finished 1-2 in the men&rsquo;s javelin - using the same spear.&nbsp;
Rohler produced the best two throws of the competition, reaching 86.39m in the second round and 85.79m in the fifth to secure his first win of the season. Rohler used the Czech&rsquo;s spears both here and in Shanghai after his arrived in China last week battered and broken.
Vadlejch threw 85.34m.
<h3>Sprint wins for Thompson and Rodgers</h3>
Olympic champion Elaine Thompson chiseled together a solid victory in the 200m, running well over the final 70 metres to win in 22.40. Behind her, world 400m silver medallist Salwa Naser was pleased after finishing strong and overtaking Nigerian Blessing Okagbare to take second by 0.02 in 22.56, her third PB over the distance in as many races and a Bahraini record.
The meet was capped by the men&rsquo;s 100m, the closest race of the night. Olympic bronze medallist Andre De Grasse of Canada produced a strong late-race surge, but ran out of room to catch Michael Rodgers who was given the edge. Both clocked 10.09.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

World leads by Lijiao Gong and Gudaf Tsegay were among the highlight performances at the inaugural Nanjing World Challenge on Tuesday (21).

World leads for Gong and Tsegay in Nanjing

Michael Norman&rsquo;s 19.84 clocking in the 200m at the Golden Grand Prix Osaka was one of three meeting records set at the IAAF World Challenge competition on Sunday (19).
The rising US sprinter, who last month opened his 2019 campaign with a 400m PB of 43.45, dominated the half-lap race at Osaka&rsquo;s Nagai Stadium. He already had a considerable lead before entering the home straight and he continued to pull away from the rest of the field in the second half.
The 21-year-old&rsquo;s winning time of 19.84 (-0.4m/s) equalled his lifetime best and took 0.03 off the meeting record set 20 years ago by Frank Fredericks. Yang Chun-Han of Chinese Taipei was a distant second in 20.50.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty happy with the performance, time-wise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel as though there are multiple areas that I can improve on so I&rsquo;ll go home and work on those ahead of my next race. I just didn&rsquo;t feel as though the intensity that I usually have during a 200m was there.&rdquo;
Early next month Norman will contest the 200m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome, where he will line up against Noah Lyles, winner of the 100m at yesterday&rsquo;s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.
<h3>Wang breaks Japanese all-comers&rsquo; hammer record</h3>
The Golden Grand Prix was also part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge and the first competition for women in this year&rsquo;s series.
China&rsquo;s Asian champion Wang Zheng, runner-up in the challenge in 2017, won by more than a metre with 75.27m. Her winning mark broke the Japanese all-comers&rsquo; record of 74.76m set in this same stadium by Betty Heidler when winning the 2007 world title. 
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China's Wang Zheng at the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge meeting in Osaka</div>
&nbsp;
USA&rsquo;s Gwen Berry was second with 74.09m and compatriot Deanna Price, the North American record-holder, was third with 72.92m.
The third meeting record fell to Ivet Lalova in the women&rsquo;s 200m. Contesting her first race of the year, the Bulgarian won comfortably in 22.55 &ndash; her fastest time since the 2016 Olympics &ndash; to break the meeting record of 22.63 set by Susanthika Jayasinghe in 2001.
&ldquo;I remember running here at the World Championships in 2007 and I wasn&rsquo;t happy with my performance,&rdquo; said Lalova, who turned 35 yesterday. &ldquo;But today I&rsquo;m leaving Osaka very happy with my run.&rdquo;
<h3>Japanese quartet makes amends</h3>
Japan&rsquo;s disqualification from the men&rsquo;s 4x100m at the IAAF World Relays was one of the biggest talking points in Yokohama last week, but the quartet returned to action in Osaka, determined to produce a good performance in front of a home crowd.
This time there was no mid-race baton juggling from the Olympic silver medallists as Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yuki Koike and Yoshihide Kiryu safely got the baton around to win by a huge margin in a world-leading 38.00. USA, with world 100m champion Justin Gatlin on second leg, finished a few metres behind in 38.73.
Gatlin had earlier won the 100m in 10.00 with Kiryu a close second in 10.01. World U20 champion Lalu Mohammad Zohri broke his own Indonesian record in third place with 10.03, the fastest time ever recorded by an athlete from Southeast Asia.
<h3>Nelvis pips Pearson</h3>
One week after helping USA win the mixed shuttle hurdles relay at the IAAF World Relays Yokohama 2019, Sharika Nelvis was victorious on Japanese soil once again.
She crossed the line level with world champion Sally Pearson but was given the verdict over the Australian as both athletes were credited with the same time: 12.70 (0.4m/s). Olympic finalist Pedrya Seymour of The Bahamas was third in 12.90.
The women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles was far more clear-cut with Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad winning by almost two seconds. The world silver medallist stopped the clock at 53.88 with Tia-Adana Belle of Barbados finishing second in 55.42, just 0.03 ahead of USA&rsquo;s Cassandra Tate.
One of the biggest cheers of the meeting came in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles where world U20 bronze medallist Shunsuke Izumiya of Japan achieved one of the biggest wins of his young career.
The 19-year-old won in a wind-assisted 13.26 (2.9m/s), the third-fastest time by an U20 athlete over the senior-height barriers under any conditions. Greggmar Swift of Barbados was a stride behind in 13.45.
Lithuania&rsquo;s Edis Matusevicius saved his best for last in the men&rsquo;s javelin. The 2015 European U20 bronze medallist already held the lead with his 80.08m throw from the third round but he sent his spear out to 84.55m with the final effort of the competition, coming within 23 centimetres of his own national record.
Elsewhere, Omar Craddock won the men&rsquo;s triple jump with 17.16m and Naoto Tobe won the men&rsquo;s high jump with 2.27m. Kenya&rsquo;s Jonathan Kitilit won the 800m in 1:46.37 and compatriot Philemon Ruto won the 3000m steeplechase in 8:22.65.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Michael Norman’s 19.84 clocking in the 200m at the Golden Grand Prix Osaka was one of three meeting records set at the IAAF World Challenge competition on Sunday (19).

Norman, Wang and Lalova break meeting records in Osaka

Expectations will be high when Michael Norman takes to the 200m startline on Sunday (19) at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix Osaka, part of the IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.
In his first race of 2019, the 21-year-old blazed to 400m victory at last month&rsquo;s Mt SAC Relays in a PB of 43.45, the fastest season debut in history. This will be his first race since that performance and it doesn&rsquo;t seem too unreasonable to suggest he could challenge his 200m PB of 19.84, set at last year&rsquo;s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris.
The meeting record of 19.96 was set by Isaac Makwala in 2018. Meanwhile, the stadium and Japanese all-comers&rsquo; record of 19.76 was set by Tyson Gay at the 2007 IAAF World Championships.
Along with US compatriot Christopher Belcher, Norman will face two of the three fastest Japanese men of all time at the distance, Shota Iizuka and Kenji Fujimitsu.
<h3>High quality hammer</h3>
Given that the meeting is part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, the women&rsquo;s field for that discipline is unsurprisingly strong.
Deanna Price and Gwen Berry exchanged North American records last year with Price ending 2018 as the holder of the mark with 78.12m, putting her fourth on the world all-time list. Berry, who has a best of 77.78m, sits just one place below Price on that list, but tops the 2019 world list with 76.23m.
World silver medallist Wang Zheng of China will be competing for the first time since winning the Asian title with a season&rsquo;s best of 75.66m. Compatriot Luo Na, who beat Wang to the Asian Games title last year, is also in the field, along with world bronze medallist Malwina Kopron, two-time European bronze medallist Joanna Fiodorow and 2016 European bronze medallist Hanna Skydan.
The Japanese all-comers&rsquo; record is 74.76m, while the meeting record is 74.27m. Given that eight of the nine women boast PBs beyond 75 metres, both marks look to be on borrowed time.
<h3>Hurdles highlights</h3>
World champion Sally Pearson will likely need to improve on her season&rsquo;s best of 12.99 if she hopes to win the 100m hurdles in Osaka. She will face US indoor champion Sharika Nelvis, Olympic bronze medallist Kristi Castlin, 2015 Pan-American Games champion Queen Harrison and Olympic finalist Pedrya Seymour.
In the 400m hurdles, Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad takes on the much-improved Tia Adana Belle of Barbados and 2015 world bronze medallist Cassandra Tate.
Fresh from competing at the IAAF World Relays, where he helped USA win their 4x100m heat in 38.34, Cameron Burrell lines up in the 100m alongside the ill-fated Japanese quartet that was disqualified for passing the baton out of the zone: Yoshihide Kiryu, Ryota Yamagata, Shuhei Tada and Yuki Koike.
USA&rsquo;s Olympic 4x100m champion English Gardner, who returned to action last year after a long injury spell, will contest her first 200m in almost two years. She&rsquo;ll take on 2016 world U20 champion Candace Hill and 2017 NCAA champion Kyra Jefferson.
The men&rsquo;s 800m looks to be a duel between Kenyan champion Jonathan Kitilit and world and Olympic finalist Alfred Kipketer.
<h3>Japanese field eventers out in force</h3>
Over the past two years, long jumper Yuki Hashioka has established himself as one of the most exciting talents in Japanese athletics.
He bettered eight metres for the first time at the age of 18 in 2017, then won the world U20 title in Tampere last year and improved his PB to 8.09m. He has already started 2019 in flying form, leaping a wind-assisted 8.25m at the Texas Relays and a lifetime best of 8.22m to win the Asian title in Doha last month.
The national record of 8.25m looks well within Hashioka&rsquo;s reach and he&rsquo;ll start as marginal favourite in Osaka when he takes on world indoor finalist Dan Bramble and 19-year-old Lin Chia-Hsing of Chinese Taipei who has jumped 8.14m this year.
Two athletes who have already broken Japanese records this year will be in action in Osaka.
Javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi launched her spear out to 64.36m in Tokyo earlier this month to add 56 centimetres to the Japanese record. The 2015 world U18 champion will aim to produce a home victory for the local crowd but will need to be at her best when she faces European bronze medallist Liveta Jasiunaite of Lithuania and Su Lingdan of China.
High jumper Naoto Tobe was one of the revelations of the 2019 indoor season, leaping a national indoor record of 2.35m, the best ever jump by a Japanese athlete, indoors or out. He finished third at the recent Asian Championships, one place behind compatriot Takashi Eto, who recently equalled his PB with 2.30m. Both men will renew their rivalry in Osaka.
Japan&rsquo;s Olympic finalist Ryohei Arai narrowly beat Huang Shih-Feng of Chinese Taipei to the bronze medal at the Asian Championships last month, so this weekend&rsquo;s competition in Osaka will be an opportunity for the 2015 Asian champion to gain revenge. 2013 world champion Vitezslav Vesely is also in the field and should prove a formidable opponent.
Elsewhere, Omar Craddock takes on Zhu Yaming and Nazim Babayev in the triple jump, while Oceanian record-holder Brooke Stratton faces 2015 world silver medallist Shara Proctor in the long jump.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Expectations will be high when Michael Norman takes to the 200m startline on Sunday (19) at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix Osaka, part of the IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.

Norman’s 200m seasonal debut among expected highlights in Osaka

Nigeria&rsquo;s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, world ranked No.14, produced a national shot put record of 21.77m to beat Brazilian favourite Darlan Romani the 35th Grande Pr&ecirc;mio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo on Sunday (28) as the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge got under way at the Est&aacute;dio do Centro Nacional de Desenvolvimento do Atletismo in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista, S&atilde;o Paulo.
Romani, world ranked No.3 and winner of the 2018 Continental Cup, led with his 21.62m from round two, but Enekwechi responded in round three with 21.77m &ndash; a PB by 49 centimetres to take the definitive lead. Romani improved to 21.69m on his final throw, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough to deliver the victory. USA&rsquo;s Curtis Jensen was third with 20.40m.
Enekwechi&rsquo;s winning mark added one centimetre to the Nigerian record set three years ago by Stephen Mozia. It also moved Enekwechi up to second place on the African all-time list, just 20 centimetres behind continental record-holder Janus Robberts.
Brazil&rsquo;s two-time world finalist Augusto Dutra de Oliveira, world ranked No.21, won the pole vault with 5.75m, his best performance of the past four years. The 28-year-old started his day with a second-attempt clearance at 5.45m, followed with 5.65m, also on his second attempt, and then got over 5.75m on his first try before having three fouls at 5.85m. His personal best is 5.82m, from 2013.
&ldquo;I had jumped 5.71m a month ago in Argentina, which indicated that things were going well,&rdquo; said Dutra, who has a PB of 5.82m, set in 2013. &ldquo;Today I was very pleased with my improvement to 5.75m. I feel the season is going very well and today I could have vaulted 5.85m, but perhaps I relaxed a bit after 5.75m. I&rsquo;m confident I&rsquo;ll be able to achieve it later in the season.&rdquo;
Argentina&rsquo;s Germ&aacute;n Chiaraviglio was second with a season&rsquo;s best of 5.60m, while USA&rsquo;s Audie Wyatt was third, also with 5.60m. Olympic Champion Thiago Braz da Silva was only fourth with 5.45m, cleared on his first attempt. &ldquo;Today wasn&rsquo;t a good day, but things are going well and I feel the season is going to bring good results,&rdquo; said Braz, the South American record-holder.
<h3>Miller beats Halasz, Allman gets better of Brazilian duo</h3>
Britain&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Nick Miller, world ranked No.17, triumphed at the first stop of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge with 73.81m from his second attempt, following it with two other throws beyond 73 metres. 
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Nick Miller in the hammer at the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge meeting in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista</div>
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Hungary&rsquo;s European bronze medallist Bence Hal&aacute;sz, world ranked No.4, was second with 73.26m, while Belarus&rsquo; Pavel Bareisha, world ranked No.6, was third with 72.82m.
In the women&rsquo;s discus, USA's world leader Valarie Allman, world ranked No.7, was first with her 65.39m effort from round five. Brazil&rsquo;s South American record-holder Andressa de Morais, world ranked No.3, was second with a season&rsquo;s best of 64.86m, while compatriot Fernanda Borges Martins, world ranked No.8, was third with 61.62m.
USA&rsquo;s Jessica Ramsey and Daniella Hill, world ranked No.8 and 33 respectively, finished 1-2 in the women&rsquo;s shot put, 18.90m to 17.84m. Trinidad &amp; Tobago&rsquo;s Cleopatra Borel, world ranked No.22, was third with 17.49m.
<h3>Dos Santos improves South American U20 record</h3>
One of South America&rsquo;s most impressive young athletes, Brazilian Alison Brendom Alves dos Santos, made another big improvement to his own South American U20 record with his 48.84 victory in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles.
Dos Santos, the world U20 bronze medallist and world ranked No.38, entered the competition with a personal best of 49.48, set in California nine days prior. He now sits at 13th on the world U20 all-time list.
Chilean Alfredo Sep&uacute;lveda was second with a season&rsquo;s best of 49.63, while USA&rsquo;s Quincy Downing was third with 49.71.
Jamaican Nikita Tracey, world ranked No.44, won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles with a season&rsquo;s best of 55.53 ahead of USA&rsquo;s 2015 world bronze medallist Cassandra Tate, second with 56.34.
<h3>Baloyes takes 200m</h3>
Colombia&rsquo;s Central American and Caribbean Games champion Bernardo Baloyes, world ranked No.14, obtained an impressive 200m victory with a season&rsquo;s best of 20.08 (0.9m/s). The 25-year-old ran a strong bend and was able to hold off the attack of Brazil&rsquo;s Gabriel Constantino, who set a personal best of 20.21, while his compatriot Aldemir da Silva Junior was third with 20.38.
The wind affected the sprint hurdles and the long jump.
Costa Rica&rsquo;s Andrea Vargas, Central American and Caribbean Games champion and world ranked No.19, took the victory in the 100m hurdles in 12.80 (2.8m/s). 200m runner-up Constantino, South American record-holder and world ranked No.9, won the 110m hurdles in 13.24 (3.8m/s).
Uruguay&rsquo;s world and Olympic finalist Emiliano Lasa, world ranked No.12, triumphed in the men&rsquo;s long jump with a wind-assisted 8.21m (3.0m/s), backing it up with a wind-legal 8.07m (1.6m/s). Brazil&rsquo;s Aleksandro Melo was second with 8.18m (2.5m/s). The 23 year-old triple jump specialist has shown great form in recent weeks, improving his personal best to 17.22m and 17.31m.
<h3>World leading 3000m</h3>
Daisy Jepkemei, the 2012 world U20 steeplechase champion, won the 3000m with 8:52.16, the fastest time in the world so far, ahead of compatriot Norah Jeruto Tanui (8:53.38). After a conservative race up to 1000m (3:04.26) and 2000m (6:04.22), Jepkemei unleashed a strong final kilometre to capture the victory.
Kenya&rsquo;s Alfred Kipketer, world ranked No.22, took the 800m in1:47.16. Compatriot Michael Kibet, world ranked No.75, took the 1500m victory in 3:38.85.
Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF

Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, world ranked No.14, produced a national shot put record of 21.77m to beat Brazilian favourite Darlan Romani the 35th Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo on Sunday (28) as the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge got under way at the Estádio do Centro Nacional de Desenvolvimento do Atletismo in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo.

Enekwechi and Dutra upset favourites in Bragança Paulista

Brazil&rsquo;s Olympic pole vault champion Thiago Braz and IAAF Continental Cup shot put champion Darlan Romani will be among the top attractions at the Grande Pr&ecirc;mio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo that will open the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge on Sunday (28) in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista, S&atilde;o Paulo.
Fifteen events &ndash; six on the field and nine on the track &ndash; will take place on Sunday afternoon, featuring the main names of Brazilian athletics.
Coming from a couple of seasons plagued with injuries, Braz expects to start his 2019 outdoor campaign with a positive result, after vaulting 5.80m indoors. Braz, world ranked No.13 in the pole vault, has rejoined his former coach &Eacute;lson Miranda de Souza and is coming from a stage of training in San Diego.
&ldquo;We aren&rsquo;t worried about how high he will go in this meet,&rdquo; explained Miranda de Souza. &ldquo;We will start with a 16-step approach and later in the season will switch to 18. The training in Chula Vista has gone very well. The facilities are wonderful and the weather was perfect. We didn&rsquo;t miss any workouts and we feel very positive.&rdquo;
Brazil&rsquo;s 2013 and 2015 world finalist Augusto Dutra de Oliveira, world ranked No.21, will be Braz&rsquo;s main challenge, along with Argentina&rsquo;s Germ&aacute;n Chiaraviglio, world ranked No.29, and Portugal&rsquo;s Diogo Ferreira, world ranked No.35.
After a season in which he won the Continental Cup and set five South American records, culminating with 22.00m, Romani was named Brazil&rsquo;s best athlete of 2018. The 28-year-old, world ranked No.3 in the shot put, started this season with 21.83m in S&atilde;o Paulo and has higher goals.
&ldquo;Last year was a very good one, but that only elevates my responsibilities,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To stay at the same level, or to improve, I must throw over 21m consistently and I hope to achieve that at the Diamond League meets, Pan-American Games and World Championships.&rdquo;
The Brazilian will face USA&rsquo;s Curtis Jensen in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista. Jensen, world ranked No.9, beat Romani at last year&rsquo;s edition of this meeting, 21.63m to 21.48m. Nigeria&rsquo;s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, world ranked No.14, will also provide stiff opposition.
<h3>Halazs chasing challenge points</h3>
European bronze medallist Bence Halasz will be hoping to kick-start his IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge campaign with top marks on Sunday.
The Hungarian, world ranked No.4 in the hammer, finished third overall in last year&rsquo;s Hammer Throw Challenge and heads to Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista as the slight favourite.
He&rsquo;ll face Belarusian Pavel Bareisha, world ranked No.6, Britain&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Nick Miller, world ranked No.17, and Chile&rsquo;s South American champion Humberto Mansilla, world ranked No.9.
In the women&rsquo;s discus, USA's world leader Valarie Allman, world ranked No.7 after throwing a lifetime best of 67.15m earlier this month, will take on world No.8 rank Fernanda Raquel Borges, third on the 2019 world list with 64.16m, and fellow Brazilian Andressa de Morais, world ranked No.3 and the South American record holder with 65.10m.
<h3>Aman headlines a promising 800m</h3>
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Mohamed Aman, world ranked No.88, leads the field of an 800m race that features several notable runners.
Aman, the 2013 world champion, will open his season in Brazil, aiming to regain his top form but faces a pair of strong Kenyans. Cornelius Tuwei, world ranked No.12, ran 1:43.82 last year and 1:47.71 indoors earlier this year. Compatriot Alfred Kipketer, world ranked No.22, was an Olympic finalist in 2016 and has a best of 1:42.87. Brazil&rsquo;s world finalist Thiago Andre adds further class to the field.
Elsewhere, South American record-holder Gabriel Constantino leads the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles field, while fellow Brazilian Alison dos Santos will contest his first 400m hurdles race on home soil since setting a South American U20 record of 49.48 in California earlier this month.
Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF

Brazil’s Olympic pole vault champion Thiago Braz and IAAF Continental Cup shot put champion Darlan Romani will be among the top attractions at the Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo that will open the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge on Sunday (28) in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo.

Braz and Romani headline Brazilian Grand Prix in Bragança Paulista

Two global athletics series will commence in two weeks&rsquo; time when Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista hosts the Grande Premio Brasil de Atletismo, the first meeting in the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.
<h3> Spanning the globe from Brazil to Croatia</h3>
Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista is the first of nine <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/Competitions/iaaf-world-challenge/calendar/2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IAAF World Challenge</a> meetings to be held in as many countries over the course of the late spring and summer. The series traverses the globe with stops in Kingston, Osaka, Nanjing, Hengelo, Turku, Ostrava and Berlin before concluding in Zagreb in September.
World Challenge meetings often play key roles in the lead-in to major championships. Of the 36 world champions crowned in individual track and field events in 2017, 15 of them had participated in at least one World Challenge meeting earlier in the season.
Last year, meanwhile, the World Challenge was graced by the likes of double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson, multiple world and Olympic discus champion Sandra Perkovic, Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser, rising long jump star Juan Miguel Echevarria and world high jump champion Maria Lasitskene.
<h3> Wlodarczyk targets seventh challenge victory</h3>
The 2019 <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-hammer-throw-challenge/calendar/2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge</a> will consist of nine competitions in seven countries.
After its start in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista, it will pass through Osaka, Nanjing, Turku, Bydgoszcz, Chorzow, Szekesfehervar and Szombathely before concluding at the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019.
Polish duo Anita Wlodarczyk and Wojciech Nowicki topped the challenge standings in 2018. It was Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s sixth successive victory, while Nowicki succeeded compatriot Pawel Fajdek as the men&rsquo;s winner. Both contests were close, though.
Wlodarczyk was beaten by USA&rsquo;s Gwen Berry earlier in the series in Chorzow. Although she went on to win the rest of her competitions in the Hammer Throw Challenge, her winning margin of 4.81 was her smallest since 2014.
The men&rsquo;s challenge was even closer as just 1.85 separated Nowicki and Fajdek at the end of the series, making it the tightest finish in five years.
Points in the challenge are calculated by combining the distance of the best three throws in the series, with one point per metre.
There will be a minimum of US$8500 in prize money per hammer competition at each Hammer Throw Challenge meeting. The top 12 finishers at the end of the series will receive prize money with the overall winner being awarded $30,000.
IAAF

Two global athletics series will commence in two weeks’ time when Bragança Paulista hosts the Grande Premio Brasil de Atletismo, the first meeting in the 2019 IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.

IAAF World Challenge and IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge – two weeks to go

For the fifth time in the history of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, a Polish duo topped the end-of-year standings. On the women's side, world champion and world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk won for the sixth time while compatriot Wojciech Nowicki won his first title, unseating compatriot Pawel Fajdek.
The scoring system takes each athlete&rsquo;s three best marks from the series and equates metres to points. Prize money is awarded to the top 12 finishers at the end of the challenge. The athlete with the highest score wins US $30,000. In order to be ranked and earn prize money, an athlete must have taken part in a minimum of three meetings.
<h3>Final standings</h3>
Men 1 Wojciech Nowicki (POL) 241.89 2 Pawel Fajdek (POL) 240.04 3 Bence Halasz (HUN) 232.46 4 Dilshod Nazarov (TJK) 230.55 5 Marcel Lomnicky (SVK) 226.93&nbsp;
Women 1 Anita Wlodarczyk (POL) 228.12 2 Gwen Berry (USA) 223.31 3 Joanna Fiodorow (POL) 222.03 4 Alexandra Tavernier (FRA) 221.44 5 Malwina Kopron (POL) 217.41
Complete standings: <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-hammer-throw-challenge/standings/2018/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Men</a> | <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-hammer-throw-challenge/standings/2018/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Women</a>
Nowicki, the freshly-minted European champion, moved up a notch from his second place challenge finish last year, tallying 241.89 points to top Fajdek, a four-time winner, who scored 240.04.
Hungary's Bence Halasz was third with 232.46 with Dilshod Nazarov of Tajikistan, the Olympic champion, finishing fourth with 230.55.
Wlodarczyk, a two-time Olympic and four-time European champion, scored 228.12 points to top Gwen Berry of the US who collected 223.31. Berry, 29, beat the Pole for the first time in eight career meetings at the Kusocinski Memorial in Chorzow on 8 June with a 77.78m effort, a lifetime best and the fifth farthest throw in the world this year.
Poland's Joanna Fiodorow finished third, edging Alexandra Tavernier of France by less than a metre, 222.03 to 221.44. Malwina Kopron, another Pole, rounded out the top five.
IAAF

For the fifth time in the history of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, a Polish duo topped the end-of-year standings. On the women's side, world champion and world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk won for the sixth time while compatriot Wojciech Nowicki won his first title, unseating compatriot Pawel Fajdek.

Wlodarczyk and Nowicki win 2018 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge

Ronnie Baker stormed to a world-leading 9.87 100m victory to highlight the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, on Wednesday (22).
The performance by the 24-year-old in this southern Polish city clipped 0.01 from his personal best as well as from the world lead he shared with compatriot Noah Lyles. Baker also eclipsed the previous meeting record of 9.98 set by Usain Bolt in 2014 when the competition was held in Warsaw.
Propelled by victories in Rome, Paris and London, Baker will arrive at next week's IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels (31) leading the 100m standings in the series, and, clearly running in the best shape of his career.
Baker dominated the race, finishing more than 0.20 ahead of runner-up Mike Rodgers, who clocked 10.10. World and European 200m champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey was a distant third in 10.24.
"I felt ready," Baker said. "This is good motivation before the Diamond League final."
Baker&rsquo;s was one of seven meeting records set at the competition, witnessed by a crowd of 41,200, the largest to attend an athletics meeting in Poland since the 1960s.
<h3>Semenya and Gardiner cruise to 400m wins</h3>
Olympic and world 800m champion Caster Semenya made her return to the track for the first time since her 400/800m double victory at the African Championships a notable one, taking the shorter distance in 50.06, the second fastest performance of her career. The South African, who will contest the double at next month's IAAF Continental Cup Ostrava 2018 for Team Africa, won by nearly a second-and-a-half, with Justyna Swiety-Ersetic of Poland a distant second in 51.45.
Steven Gardiner also returned to action, racing for the first time since his sub-44 second early season momentum was halted by injury at the Diamond League fixture in Stockholm on 10 June.
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Steven Gardiner in Chorzow</div>
&nbsp;
The 22-year-old Bahamian, who lowered the national record to 43.87 with his victory in Doha in May, won comfortably in 44.43, well ahead of Poland's Karol Zalewski who clocked 45.32. World and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor was third, just a couple inches further back in 45.34.
<h3>Fiodorow and Fajdek nail hammer wins</h3>
The meeting, organised to honour 2000 Olympic hammer throw champion Kamila Skolimowska, also marked the conclusion of the 2018 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge. Both meeting victories went to Poland.
Joanna Fiodorow won the women's competition with a 74.39m season's best ahead of Frenchwoman Alexandra Tavernier, who reached 73.38m. Pawel Fajdek produced the meeting's two farthest throws --79.44 and 78.63-- to take the victory on the men's side over compatriot Wojciech Nowicki, who threw 77.41m in the final round, reversing their positions from the European championships 15 days ago.
There were strong performances in the throws across the board.&nbsp;
European champion Michal Haratyk won the shot put with 21.33m, edging world indoor and outdoor champion Tom Walsh by just five centimetres. Czech Tomas Stanek was third, throwing 21.05m.
Andrius Gudzius took control of the discus in the first round with a 66.15m effort, one that would hold out as the best of the day. Poland's Robert Urbanek was second at 64.50m with former world and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter, now 39, third with 63.52m. Robert Harting, another former world and Olympic champion, winding down his farewell tour, was fourth, reaching 62.94m.
Germany's Andreas Hofmann won the men's javelin with an 83.81m best, Slovenia's Martina Ratej the women's with 61.50m. Aliona Dubitskaya won the women's shot put by nearly a metre, reaching 19.06m.
Elsewhere on the infield, Piotr Lisek of Poland and Canada's Shawn Barber, the 2015 world champion, waged a strong battle in the pole vault. Lisek lead with a clean card through 5.70m, but Barber took control at the next height, taking the lead after a second attempt clearance at 5.80m, while Lisek needed three. But the Pole prevailed thanks to third attempt success at 5.85 while Barber topped out.
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Piotr Lisek at the Skolimowska Memorial</div>
&nbsp;
Back on the track, freshly-minted European champion Elvira Herman of Belarus won the 100m hurdles in 12.87, a tenth of a second clear of Germany's Richarda Lobe.
World and Olympic steeplechase finalist Colleen Quigley of the US moved down to her second event, the 1500m, and notched a 4:03.02 lifetime best to take an upset victory over Poland's Sofia Ennaoui, who raced to European silver ten days ago. Sarah McDonald of Great Britain was half a step back in third, clocking 4:03.36, 0.08 ahead of Ennaoui.
Marcin Lewandowski won the 800m in 1:44.99, turning the tables on compatriot Adam Kszczot, who took a third continental title in Berlin 11 days ago. Kszczot was third in 1:45.48.
Bob Ramsak (with assistance from Alfons Juck) for the IAAF

Ronnie Baker stormed to a world-leading 9.87 100m victory to highlight the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, on Wednesday (22).

Baker clocks 9.87 world lead in Chorzow 

Andressa de Morais improved her own South American discus record to 65.10m to produce the highlight of the 32nd Grande Pr&ecirc;mio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo, part of the IAAF World Challenge, on Sunday (8) at the National Athletics Development Centre&rsquo;s (CNDA) Stadium in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista, Brazil.
The two-time Olympian and three-time South American champion had an impressive series in her four throws, opening the competition with 64.02m, followed by 63.30m, 64.49m and her record-breaking 65.10m, that moves seventh on the 2018 world list.
&ldquo;I am super happy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I wanted to break the 65-metre barrier since 2015 and it finally happened.&rdquo; The 27-year old, who had been a 64-metre thrower since 2012, eclipsed her previous area record of 64.68m set at the 2017 South American Championships in Paraguay.
&ldquo;I have had some important success such as my participation in the Diamond League (three events) and I look forward to the next stop in London,&rdquo; she added.
Three days after setting a season&rsquo;s best of 63.64m in Guadalajara, Spain, Fernanda Raquel Martins settled for second in 62.15m while 2014 world U20 champion Izabela da Silva completed Brazil&rsquo;s medal sweep with a personal best of 58.85m.
Brazil&rsquo;s Olympic pole vault champion Thiago Braz da Silva, looking for his first international win at home since the claiming the Olympic gold in 2016, had to settle for third with 5.40m.
&ldquo;I did not like the result, but I am leaving the stadium happy as I did not feel pain in my injured foot,&rdquo; said de Braz, who is scheduled to compete next at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rabat on 13 July.
USA&rsquo;s Cole Walsh dominated the event with a 5.60m clearance, followed by Brazilian champion Augusto Dutra, who managed 5.50m.
&ldquo;This is my first time in Brazil and I loved the country,&rdquo; said Walsh. &ldquo;The competition was excellent, the temperature, the weather and the wind helped us.&rdquo;
<h3>Nazarov wins again</h3>
The other Olympic champion in action marked a successful return to Brazil since winning gold at the 2016 Games.
Tajikistan&rsquo;s Dilshod Nazarov produced a best of 75.18m in the fourth and final round to secure victory in the men&rsquo;s hammer, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, finishing ahead of world finalists Serghei Marghiev (74.51m) of Moldova and Pavel Bareisha (73.28m) of Belarus.
&ldquo;I love Brazil,&rdquo; said the 36-year old, who has competed in Brazil 13 times since his first appearance in 2009. &ldquo;The competition was not bad, but I hope to perform better next time.&rdquo;
In a top-class contest, USA&rsquo;s Curtis Jensen spoiled a Brazilian celebration in the men&rsquo;s shot put as he improved his personal best by almost half a metre (21.63m) in the final round to deny South American record-holder Darlan Romani a victory in front of his home crowd.
&ldquo;This is my personal best and I am now in the top 10 (sixth) in the world,&rdquo; said Jensen.
Darlani was also satisfied with his 21.48m effort in the opening round. &ldquo;It was a good result and I love competing here,&rdquo; said Darlani, who lives and trains in Bragan&ccedil;a Paulista.
Other top results came in the men&rsquo;s 400m, where Olympic finalist Bralon Taplin of Grenada ran a season&rsquo;s best of 44.67.
The Brazilian fans were pleased with sprinting wins by Vitoria Cristina Rosa and Paulo Andr&eacute; de Oliveira.
Twenty-two-year-old Rosa, coming back from running a personal best of 11.03 in Spain on Thursday, confirmed her excellent form with 11.14 win in the 100m. 2016 world indoor champion Barbara Pierre and South American record-holder and 2017 world finalist Rosangela Santos followed her across the finish line with respective season&rsquo;s bests of 11.18 and 11.23.
In the men&rsquo;s race, Paulo Andre Oliveira held off Antigua and Barbuda&rsquo;s Cejhae Greene to repeat his victory from 2017. Oliveira clocked 10.14, closely followed by Greene (10.16) and fellow Brazilian and 2016 Olympic 4x100m relay finalist Jorge Vides (10.22).
In its 32nd edition, the Grande Pr&ecirc;mio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo had a strong international flavour with 121 athletes from 28 countries. Other international winners were Cuba&rsquo;s Liadagamis Povea (14.30m) in the triple jump and Yaniuvis Lopez (18.58m) in the shot put, Saint Lucia&rsquo;s Levern Spencer (1.92m) in the high jump and Cyprus&rsquo;s Apostolos Parellis (62.94m) in the men&rsquo;s discus. Africa dominated as expected the 3000m steeplechase, thanks to Ethiopia&rsquo;s Birtukan Adamu (9:59.97) and Nicholas Bett (8:27.03).
The United Sates celebrated two other wins in the men&rsquo;s triple jump with Chris Carter (17.02m) and the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles with Ebony Morrison (13.41).
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

Andressa de Morais improved her own South American discus record to 65.10m to produce the highlight of the 32nd Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo, part of the IAAF World Challenge, on Sunday (8) at the National Athletics Development Centre’s (CNDA) Stadium in Bragança Paulista, Brazil.

Calendar
Date	Meeting	Venue	Country	Info
28 APR 2019	Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo	CNDA, Bragança Paulista	BRA	Result
19 MAY 2019	Seiko Golden Grand Prix	Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Osaka	JPN	Result
20–21 MAY 2019	2019 Nanjing World Challenge	Olympic Stadium, Nanjing	CHN	Result
11 JUN 2019	Paavo Nurmi Games	Paavo Nurmi Stadium, Turku	FIN	Result
11–12 JUN 2019	Irena Szewińska Memorial	Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Bydgoszcz	POL	Result
16 JUN 2019	ORLEN Memoriał Janusza Kusocińskiego	Stadion Śląski, Chorzów	POL	Result
20 JUN 2019	Golden Spike Ostrava 2019	Mestský Stadion, Ostrava	CZE	Result
09 JUL 2019	Gyulai István Memorial Hungarian GP	Bregyó Athletic Center, Székesfehérvár	HUN	Result
27 AUG 2019	Németh Pál Memorial	Sugár úti Atlétikai Centrum, Szombathely	HUN	Result
27 SEP–06 OCT 2019	IAAF World Championships in Athletics	Khalifa International Stadium, Doha	QAT	Result

women
	Athlete	Country	Points
1	DeAnna PRICE	USA	226.6

men
	Athlete	Country	Points
1	Paweł FAJDEK	POL	241.9

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