US hammer thrower Janee Kassanavoid (© Getty Images)
USA’s Janee Kassanavoid moved up to sixth on the world all-time list after winning the hammer with 78.00m at the USATF Throws Fest – a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting – in Tucson on Saturday (21).
The 27-year-old led from the outset, but was pushed all the way by US compatriot Brooke Anderson. Kassanavoid opened with 74.88m, then improved to a PB of 77.17 in round two. Anderson started with a foul, but threw 75.25m in the second round. Kassanavoid, keeping composed under pressure, then sent her hammer out to 78.00m in the third round. Andersen followed it with 77.75m just minutes later.
Neither athlete improved in the final three rounds, though Kassanavoid produced a 75.01m effort in round five. Andersen’s 77.75m is the best ever mark for a runner-up place in a women’s hammer competition.
As well as moving to sixth on the world all-time list, Kassanavoid climbs to third on the US all-time list behind world champion DeAnna Price (80.31m) and Andersen (79.02m). It also means the USA could potentially send three 78-metre throwers to the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 – depth that no other country has so far been able to manage in this event.
The men’s hammer in Tucson was similarly competitive with US champion Rudy Winkler winning with 78.51m from Mexico’s Diego del Real (78.26m) and USA’s Daniel Haugh (77.94m).
In a close women’s shot put competition, world silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw 19.53m in round four to move from third place to first, overtaking Canada’s Sarah Mitton (19.47m) and US champion Jessica Ramsey (19.38m).
Elsewhere in Tucson, 2017 world champion Tom Walsh won the men’s shot put with 21.60m, Sam Mattis took the men’s discus with 68.69m, and Olympic silver medallist Chris Nilsen topped the pole vault with 5.80m.
Seville sizzles 9.86
It takes a lot to steal the headlines from Jamaica’s triple Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah on home soil, but Oblique Seville’s 9.86 run in the men’s 100m at the Jubilee Series in Kingston outshone his compatriot’s sprint double.
Seville, who earlier this month set a 100m PB of 10.00, ran a controlled-looking 10.40 into a -3.1m/s headwind in his heat. The wind had settled to a far kinder 0.2m/s wind for the final and Seville made the most of it, charging away from his rivals to win in 9.86. Conroy Jones was a distant second in 10.14.
Seville now moves to equal 24th on the world all-time list – tied with the likes of Carl Lewis, Frank Fredericks and Ato Boldon – and sixth on the Jamaican all-time list.
Thompson-Herah, who had withdrawn from the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Birmingham as a precaution, made a last-minute decision to compete and showed no sign of injury niggles when winning the 100m in 10.94 into a -1.8m/s headwind. She followed it with a comfortable 22.55 (-0.7m/s) win in the 200m.
Elsewhere in the Jamaican capital, Candice McLeod won the 400m in 50.58 and Rasheed Broadbell took the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.36 (0.4m/s).
Obiri runs 30:15 in Manchester
Kenya's two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri won the Great Manchester Run 10km in 30:15 on Sunday (22), while Britain's Eilish McColgan broke Paula Radcliffe's long-standing European record with 30:19.
Obiri improved her PB by 29 seconds with the mark, which is faster than the ratified women-only world record of 30:29 set by Morocco’s Asmae Leghzaoui in 2002. However, there is a women-only world 10km record of 30:01 achieved by the late Agnes Tirop last September that is pending ratification.
McColgan's 30:19 for second place in Manchester takes two seconds off the ratified outright women's European record, which was a world record when Radcliffe set it in 2003.
Kenya's world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich finished third in a PB of 30:29.
New Zealand's Jake Robertson won the men's race in 28:06 ahead of Australia's Jack Rayner (28:16) and Spain's Antonio Abadia (28:22).
