China’s Zhang Jiale (© Oscar Munoz Badilla for World Athletics)
China’s Zhang Jiale threw 75.14m* to break the world U20 hammer record at the Sparkassen Hammerwurf-Meeting, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event, in Fränkisch-Crumbach, Germany, on Sunday (8).
The 18-year-old, who won the world U20 title in Lima last year, beat the previous world U20 record of 73.43m set by the 2021 world U20 champion Silja Kosonen of Finland in Vaasa in 2021.
As well as adding 1.71m to the previous world U20 record, Zhang improved her own previous best achieved in April by almost three metres to finish second in a competition won by her compatriot Zhao Jie, the Olympic bronze medallist.
Zhang’s record-breaking throw came in the second round of the competition and she backed it up with marks of 71.56m, 70.61m and 69.62m.
Zhao won with a PB of 76.60m from the third round and all five of her valid attempts surpassed 75 metres – her series also including throws of 76.11m, 75.99m, 75.34m and 75.04m.
Great Britain’s Anna Purchase was third with 71.77m.
Germany’s Merlin Hummel won the men’s competition with a PB of 81.23m.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
Fabbri and Andersen among winners in Lucca
Leonardo Fabbri became the first athlete to surpass 22 metres in the shot put this season, while Brooke Andersen was just five centimetres off her own world hammer lead at the Lucca International Meeting, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event, in Italy on Sunday (8).
Leonardo Fabbri at the Lucca International Meeting (© Organisers)
Home star Fabbri, the world silver medallist, threw 22.31m to win the shot put ahead of USA's Adrian Piperi (21.96m).
USA's 2022 world champion Andersen managed 79.24m to win the hammer, going close to the world lead of 79.29m she set in Arizona last month.
Olympic champion Thea LaFond leapt 14.45m to top the triple jump, while 2022 world gold medallist Eleanor Patterson cleared 1.95m to win the high jump.
Other winners included Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech in the 1500m (3:32.26) and Emmanuel Eseme in the 100m (10.05).
