Devynne Charlton dips to retain her world indoor 60m hurdles title in Nanjing (© Dan Vernon)
World record-holder Devynne Charlton successfully defended her 60m hurdles title, winning a thrilling race of record depth in 7.72 at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25.
Before this world indoor final, the record number of athletes finishing under 7.80 in a single race was three. In Nanjing the top six all beat that mark, Ditaji Kambundji dipping for silver in 7.73 and Ackera Nugent getting bronze in 7.74.
The top six were separated by just 0.04. Pia Skrzyszowska was fourth in a Polish record of 7.74, USA’s Grace Stark was fifth in the same time and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands was sixth in 7.76.
That time of 7.76 would have been enough to win 15 of the past 20 editions of the World Indoor Championships.
The field for the final was stacked.
Charlton got a great start and while her rivals tried hard to chase her down, the Bahamian held them off by only hundredths of a second to secure her second successive world indoor title, and her third world indoor medal overall after her silver from 2022.
Switzerland’s Kambundji started as the fastest in the world this year thanks to the 7.67 European indoor record she set to win her European indoor title earlier this month – a time just 0.02 off the world indoor record set by Charlton at last year’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
This time they were just 0.01 apart, with Jamaica’s Nugent following a further hundredth behind.
Nugent denied Skrzyszowska a medal by three thousandths of a second, though the 2024 world indoor bronze medallist did leave with the national record to her name.
“It was a big deal for me to come here and show up, defend my title,” said Charlton, who was eighth on the list of entries for Nanjing on season's best but peaked when it mattered the most. “It was a big goal for me. It wasn't looking great, but I trusted the people around me and I was able to pull it off.
“It's definitely super hard to defend a title at an event like this. The women always show up. To come away with a win against these ladies, it's really cool.”
Nugent had averted disaster in the semifinals as she managed to stay on her feet despite hitting the final hurdle hard – so much so that the top of the barrier came completely away from the frame.
She managed to finish second in a race won by Skrzyszowska – 7.79 to 8.00. Visser won her semifinal in 7.81 to Charlton’s 7.82, while the third semifinal was won by Stark in 7.72 from Kambundji on 7.76.
China’s Wu Yanni missed out on a place in the final by just 0.01 but will take consolation from setting a national record of 8.01 – a time that places her fourth on the Asian all-time list – in front of a passionate home crowd.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
| WOMEN'S 60m HURDLES MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Devynne Charlton (BAH) | 7.72 SB |
| 🥈 | Ditaji Kambundji (SUI) | 7.73 |
| 🥉 | Ackera Nugent (JAM) | 7.74 SB |
| Full results | ||
