Bol and Holloway deliver on thrilling evening in Glasgow

The second evening session at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 provided one of the great indoor athletics sessions, featuring home golds for Molly Caudery in the pole vault and Josh Kerr in the 3000m, a third women’s 400m world record from Femke Bol of the Netherlands and a historic women’s 60m victory for St Lucia’s Julien Alfred.

Add to that another peerless 60m hurdles victory for Grant Holloway in a championship record of 7.29, extending his unbeaten indoor run to 76 races back to 2014, a perfectly executed 3000m victory for Elle St Pierre of the United States, a triple jump win from world champion Hugues Fabrice Zango and a last-gasp 400m defeat for Karsten Warholm at the hands of Belgium’s Alexander Doom.

It was a night of breathless and successive excitements at the Glasgow Arena, dampened only by a serious ankle injury to French pole vaulter Margot Chevrier and an apparent affliction of cramp that forced Aleia Hobbs of the United States to subside at the blocks before the women’s 60m final, from which she was wheeled away.

Bol had always looked destined to win the women’s 400m title, but given that she had already lowered her own world record to 49.24 on 18 February, the question was: could she produce another one?

The answer tonight, emphatically, was yes as she powered home with apparent ease to record 49.17.

The faster she gets, the bigger the question for later this year – how close might she get now to the American who beat her by a country mile to take the world 400m hurdles title two years ago in Oregon in a world record of 50.68, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone?

For now, though, this performance was more than enough. Running one lane inside her tall friend and training partner Lieke Klaver, Bol had moved ahead as the field broke from the lanes before the second lap, and thereafter it was all about how fast she would run.

She did not disappoint. And her joy was compounded by the silver medal taken by her teammate in 50.16.

Alexis Holmes of the United States ran a personal best of 50.24 to claim bronze, while Britain’s team captain Laviai Nielsen set a personal best of 50.89 for fourth.

History was made too in the women’s 60m as Alfred became the first athlete from St Lucia to win a senior global championships medal – and she made it a golden one with a superbly timed run which saw her come home in 6.98.

As the enormity of her achievement weighed in upon her, she was overcome by choking sobs of emotion.

After ruling the US college scene last year without being able to translate it into world medals, the 22-year-old had entered these dhampionships as the only woman to have bettered 7.00 this season, having clocked 6.99.

A larger historic opportunity now lies ahead of her at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

She caught and passed fast-starting Ewa Swoboda near the line, with the Pole having to settle for silver in 7.00 having gleefully set a personal best of 6.98 in her semi-final. Bronze went to Italy’s Zaynab Dosso in 7.05, with New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs setting an Oceanian record of 7.06 in fourth place.

Kerr may have chosen to make no comment in response to Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s suggestion that he could have beaten him blindfolded when he set a world two miles best in New York last month, but his actions spoke louder than words in front of an adoring crowd as he ran a perfect race to add the world indoor 3000m title to the world outdoor 1500m gold he won last summer.

The 26-year-old Scot had re-run the move he put on Ingebrigtsen in Budapest, coming past the defending champion and Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Selemon Barega of Ethiopia on the outside around the final bend and moving inexorably towards the line.

After a stop-start race where Barega, mysteriously, chose not to try and run the finish out of the 1500m specialists around him, Kerr won in 7:42.98, with Yared Nuguse of the United States coming past the Ethiopian in the final few strides to claim silver in 7:43.59. Barega held on to bronze in 7:43.64, with his compatriot Getnet Wale one place behind in 7:44.77.

Caudery, a Commonwealth silver medallist in 2022, has added 26cm to her performance in the space of the past year and arrived at these championships heading the world list with a clearance of 4.86m.

Despite all the pressure of expectation, she performed with poise to secure a global title with a clearance of 4.80m, winning ahead of Eliza McCartney of New Zealand on countback.

Bronze went to the world and Olympic champion Katie Moon, who had a best of 4.75m.

Holloway, as per usual, had his race won by the time he reached the first hurdle, duly extending his unbeaten indoor run of 76 races that stretches back to 2014.

Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli was also in jubilant mood after securing silver in an Italian record of 7.43, with bronze going to France’s Just Kwaou-Mathey in 7.47.

St Pierre ran a canny race in the 3000m, keeping herself at the back of the group of four runners who broke away from the main field by the halfway point and waiting until the final bend to come past Ethiopia’s world indoor 1500m champion and outdoor 10,000m champion Gudaf Tsegay to set a North American and championship record of 8:20.87.

Tsegay took silver in 8:21.13, with bronze going to world steeplechase record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech in a Kenyan record of 8:22.68. Australia’s Jess Hull just missed out on a medal but was rewarded with an Oceanian record of 8:24.39.

The late decision by Norway’s world and Olympic 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm to make this his first competition of the year and to have a crack at adding a world 400m indoor title to the European indoor versions he won in this arena in 2019, and again in Istanbul last year, almost came off.

But not quite.

Having taken the lead as the field broke from the lanes, as is his wont, he pushed hard for glory around the final bend, but was overtaken metres from the line by the tall figure of Belgium’s Alexander Doom, who won in a national indoor record of 45.25.

Warholm looked a little downcast after finishing in 45.34, but it was some performance in the circumstances.

A fifth-round effort of 17.53m proved enough for Zango to add the world indoor title to the outdoor version he won in Budapest last summer.

Silver went to Algeria’s Yasser Triki on 17.35m, with Tiago Pereira of Portugal claiming bronze with 17.08m.

Victory in the evening’s heptathlon high jump with a best of 2.16m enabled Ken Mullings of The Bahamas, who leads this year’s world list, to go into the second day with an overnight lead of 3637 points, with Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer in second place on 3558 and Estonia’s Johannes Erm third on 3552.

Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics