Mujinga Kambundji after winning the 60m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 (© Getty Images)
An evening of gripping drama on the opening day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 built up to the grandstand finish of a stunning women’s 60m victory from way out in lane eight by Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji.
The opening title of the championships having gone to Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez in the morning’s men’s triple jump final, Belgium (in the shape of pentathlete Noor Vidts), Portugal (shot putter Auriol Dongmo), Greece (long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou) and Ethiopia (3000m runner Lemlem Hailu) widened the spread of global golds before Kambundji charged up on the rails with a mighty Midas touch in the ultimate event of day one.
With the focus on Poland’s world leader Ewa Swoboda, US duo Mikiah Brisco and Marybeth Sant Price and Jamaican teenager Briana Williams in the middle lanes, it was only as the line was approaching that the crowd in the Stark Arena and the millions watching remotely worldwide noticed the 29-year-old Swiss sprinter powering away on the outside.
Kambundji, who took the 2018 bronze medal ahead of Elaine Thompson-Herah, looked like she could hardly believe it herself as the stadium screen flashed confirmation of her victory in – wait for it – 6.96.
The 2019 world 200m bronze medallist had not only smashed through the seven-second barrier to become the first European winner since 1999; she had done so in the world’s fastest time since that same year.
Having lined up for the final with a season’s best of 7.05 and a lifetime best of 7.03, Kambundji now stands joint fourth on the world all-time list – just 0.4 behind Irina Privalova’s 29-year-old world record of 6.92.
“It’s just amazing,” she said. “It feels so surreal. I like to be in the middle lanes but it was perfect where I was. I could run my own race.”
Brisco took silver in 6.99 and a tight four-way battle for bronze was won by her US teammate Sant Price, who clocked the same time, 7.04, as fourth-placed Swoboda, Olympic 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson in fifth and Williams in sixth.
There were theatrics too in the women’s shot final.
After leading from round one with 19.32m, Dongmo temporarily found herself relegated to third after European U23 champion Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands uncorked a 19.40m throw in round four and Chase Ealey followed up with a world-leading 20.21m US indoor record in round five.
Dongmo rose to the challenge, the 31-year-old Portuguese athlete notching 20.43m with her fifth-round throw to take the gold and ease the disappointment of missing out on an Olympic medal by a tantalising five centimetres last year. Ealey, who missed selection for Tokyo, took the consolation silver and 22-year-old Schilder the bronze, improving to 19.48m in the final round.
With seven women venturing beyond 19 metres, it was the best ever depth at an indoor championships, Sweden’s Fanny Roos finishing fourth with 19.22m, Maggie Ewen of the US fifth with 19.15m, Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd sixth with 19.12m and Canadian Sarah Mitton seventh with 19.02m.
Vidts produced a grandstand finish to add another global gold to Belgium’s burgeoning combined events collection, emulating Tia Hellebaut’s world indoor pentathlon success in Valencia in 2008.
The 25-year-old swept past bold Briton Holly Mills with 100m remaining in the final event, the 800m, and held off Adriana Sulek to cross the line victorious in 2:08.81, a lifetime best.
In doing so, Vidts took the gold with a national record of 4929 – ahead of European U23 champion Sulek, runner-up with a Polish record tally of 4851, and Kendell Williams of the US, who finished 9.26 seconds down on Mills in the final event but seven points ahead to hold on to bronze with 4680.
A PB tally of 4673 was scant consolation for Mills, whose British teammate Katerina Johnson-Thompson was lacking sharpness after an off-season spent battling injury and Covid. The world heptathlon champion failed to appear for the 800m after dropping to sixth in the standings with a modest 6.08m long jump.
As for Vidts, having finished runner-up to fellow Belgian Nafi Thiam at the 2021 European Indoor Championships in Torun and then missed an Olympic medal by just 19 points, she could bask in the golden glow of a job well done.
After entering the evening session with a slender 12-point lead over Sulek, a lifetime best 6.60m long jump steadied her path to victory. Ultimately, Williams’ 6.69m championship event best proved decisive in the battle for bronze.
Birthday boy Tentoglou opened with a foul in the men’s long jump final but then uncorked a champagne special in round two, the Greek’s 8.55m taking the lead – and the gold medal – out of touch of his rivals.
Seven months on from his dramatic last-round Olympic success, the 24-year-old became the first European winner wince 1991, when Germany’s Dietmar Haff prevailed in Seville. A last-round Swedish record of 8.38m snatched silver for Thobias Montler, relegating US contenders Marquis Dendy (8.27m) and Jarrion Lawson (8.19m) to third and fourth respectively.
The slow-burning battle for the women’s 3000m title built up to a last-lap battle between not just a trio of Ethiopians but also two North Americans. As the fight unfolded, Hailu held her nerve at the front, resisting the challenge of Elinor Purrier St Pierre of the US to deliver a ninth Ethiopian victory in ten championships.
Having wound up the pace from 1000m out, the 20-year-old crossed the line in 8:41.82, with Purrier St Pierre second in 8:42.04, Ejgayehu Taye third in 8:42.23 and Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford and the third Ethiopian, Dawit Seyaum missing out on the medals in fourth and fifth.
There was drama in the opening semi-final of the women’s 400m, Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist Femke Bol of the Netherlands collapsing over the line after straining to catch Stephenie Ann McPherson. Bol took the second qualifying spot in 51.28 but suffered her first indoor defeat in two years, Jamaican McPherson holding on to first place by 0.02.
“I’m fine,” said Bol. “I’m not used to being pushed to the end. I think I made some tactical mistakes in the race.”
There were no errors from co-favourite Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the second semi. The two-time Olympic 400m champion led from the front, easing over the line a clear winner in 51.38, with Pole Justyna Swiety-Ersetic (51.67) and Bol’s Dutch teammate Lieke Klaver (51.38) taking the other two qualifying spots.
The wide-open men’s 400m lost another potential contender when Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor pulled up injured in the second semi-final.
The head-banded Swede Carl Bergstrom emerged victorious from that race in 45.92 but Jereem Richards looked ominously smooth in winning the opening semi in 46.15.
The sub-20-second 200m performer is on a mission to honour his late Trinidad and Tobago teammate Deon Lendore, bronze medallist in Birmingham four years ago, who lost his life in a car crash in January. It could well prove to be a golden mission come Saturday afternoon’s final.
After the opening four events in the men’s heptathlon, it’s shaping up to be a thrilling four-way battle between Canada’s Olympic champion Damian Warner, world leader Garrett Scantling of the US, Swiss record-holder Simon Ehammer and Australia’s Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Moloney.
A high jump clearance of 1.99m from Warner and a 2.05m leap from Ehammer means the Canadian holds a two-point lead from the Swiss, 3649 to 3647.
Moloney currently sits in third with 3551, but a knee injury prevented him from jumping any higher than 2.02m and could hamper him tomorrow. Scantling is close behind with 3546 and is strong in all three of tomorrow’s events.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics
