Continuing his comeback from the injuries that curtailed his 2017 season, Olympic finalist Bralon Taplin sped to a 44.88 indoor lifetime best over 400m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station, Texas, on Saturday (3).
The Grenadian flew through the first lap in 21.58 and maintained his form well during the second half of the race to become just the sixth man in history to better the 45-second barrier for 400m indoors. Taplin&rsquo;s time ranks him fifth on the world indoor all-time list, just two places and 0.08 behind compatriot Kirani James, the 2012 Olympic champion.
Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Deon Lendore, Taplin&rsquo;s former teammate at Texas A&amp;M University, won the other 400m heat. The world indoor bronze medallist, who is also returning from a long injury spell, stopped the clock at 45.85.
Elsewhere in College Station, world 400m champion Phyllis Francis beat 2015 world 400m hurdles silver medallist Shamier Little over 300m, 36.85 to 36.98.
Nigeria&rsquo;s 2014 world U20 200m silver medallist Divine Oduduru produced the standout performance at the Texas Tech Open in Lubbock.
Having recorded a 60m PB of 6.58 on Friday (2), the Texas Tech student flew to a 20.18 outright lifetime best over 200m on Saturday (3). Teammate Andrew Hudson finished second in 20.42.
Oduduru competed indoors for the first time in his career just three weeks ago, but the 21-year-old now sits at fourth on the world indoor all-time list for the one-lap event behind Frank Fredericks, Wallace Spearman and Christian Coleman.
USA&rsquo;s 2015 world U18 400m hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin produced the fastest 400m time in the world this year with her victory over two laps of the track at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Kentucky.
Competing on what is now her &lsquo;home&rsquo; track, the University of Kentucky student won the women&rsquo;s 400m in 51.44, but her time won't count for PB or rankings purposes as it was set on an oversized track.
USA&rsquo;s Olympic 5000m finalist Shelby Houlihan obliterated her indoor 3000m PB at the Scarlet and White Invitational at Boston University to climb to second on the North American indoor all-time list
Followed closely by Marielle Hall for most of the race, the 24-year-old churned out consistent lap splits of 34 to 35 seconds before unleashing an impressive 28.5 final 200m, bringing her to the finish line in a world-leading 8:36.01. Hall finished second in 8:40.20 to become the fifth-fastest US woman ever for the distance.
Another middle-distance world lead was set at the Camel City Invitational on the unbanked JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. Multiple NCAA champion Edward Cheserek stuck to the pacemaker during the first of the men&rsquo;s mile and opened up a significant gap on the rest of the field before going on to win in 3:53.85.
His time broke the facility record set by Matthew Centrowitz in 2016, the year in which Centrowitz went on to win the Olympic title. Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo was a distant second behind Cheserek in 3:58.59.
Sprinting events produced the bulk of top performances at the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque. NCAA 100m champion Mikiah Brisco sped to her second 60m PB of the year, winning the short sprint in 7.08 to move to second on this year&rsquo;s world list.
Brisco also won her 200m heat in a PB of 23.34, but the fastest times of the day came from a pair of teenagers in another heat. In a close race, Daija Lampkin finished just ahead of Alabama teammate Tamara Clark, 23.05 to 23.10. They now sit at sixth and ninth respectively on the world indoor U20 all-time list for the distance, relegating Allyson Felix to 10th place.
One week after setting a Norwegian indoor 400m record, world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm reduced it further in Barum. The 21-year-old clocked 45.59, moving him to equal 10th on the European indoor all-time list.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Continuing his comeback from the injuries that curtailed his 2017 season, Olympic finalist Bralon Taplin sped to a 44.88 indoor lifetime best over 400m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station, Texas, on Saturday (3).

Taplin and Oduduru climb world all-time sprint lists – indoor round-up

World 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba set an outright 1000m PB at the &lsquo;Villa de Madrid&rsquo; international meeting, but fell a couple of seconds shy of her world record target on Friday (24).
Paced by Viktoria Kushnir of Belarus, Dibaba&rsquo;s early splits proved to be too fast as the pacesetter went through the opening 200m in 28:80 to reach the 400m point in 58:47, more than a second inside the pace required to break Maria Mutola&rsquo;s 2:30.94 world indoor record.
Shortly after the 500m mark, the 26-year-old Ethiopian overtook the pacemaker and passed 600m in 1:29:36, her 30.89 lap split confirming her rhythm had slightly fallen.
Even being roared on by the capacity crowd over the closing two laps, Dibaba reached 800m in 2:00.62 and it became clear by then that Mutola&rsquo;s record would be safe. At the tape, the three-time world indoor champion clocked a national indoor record of 2:33.06 to finish head and shoulders clear of her fellow Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, runner-up in 2:38:05.
Already holder of six world indoor records or bests &ndash; 1500m, mile, 2000m, 3000m, two miles and 5000m &ndash; Dibaba, who could not stop coughing after the race maybe because of the Madrid altitude effect, commented: &ldquo;I had serious hopes of breaking the record. Honestly, the first 400m was a bit quick; in addition, I had to run on my own from the 500m point but anyway I&rsquo;m satisfied with my try. I&rsquo;ll now return to Addis Ababa to build up for the outdoor season when I would like to make the 5000m/10,000m double at the World Championships in London.&rdquo;
Grenada&rsquo;s Bralon Taplin was an overwhelming victor in the 400m. The Olympic finalist shaved 0.01 from his indoor PB to win in 45.19, the second-fastest time in the world this season. 2012 Olympic silver medallist Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic finished second in a national indoor record of 45.80.
Congo&rsquo;s Franck Elemba, who made a major breakthrough last year when he placed fourth in the shot put at the Rio Olympics with a massive PB of 21.20m, confirmed today that progression was no fluke by unleashing a huge indoor PB of 20.86m in round four. He backed up his win with a 20.85m final effort while the Spanish pair of Borja Vivas and Carlos Tobalina were the other putters surpassing the 20-metre barrier, 20.05m and 20.01m their respective heaves.&nbsp;
<h3>Beitia and Ortega shine in front of their home crowd</h3>
Olympic high jump champion Ruth Beitia had a clean card up to and including 1.92m. The local star needed two attempts to get over 1.95m but bounced back to surpass a season&rsquo;s best of 1.98m at the first time of asking before failing three times at 2.01m. The last time she jumped higher than 1.98m was at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
The 37-year-old Spaniard now has her eyes on defending her title at the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Ukraine&rsquo;s Iryna Herashchenko came second with a 1.89m clearance.
Spain&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega gave the local supporters something to cheer about when he dominated the men&rsquo;s 60m hurdles in 7.51, three hundredths of a second off his Spanish record set this season. Javier Colomo was a distant runner-up in 7.80.
The men&rsquo;s triple jump went to Cuba&rsquo;s Alexis Copello thanks to a 17.10m final-round leap for a massive season&rsquo;s best while Portugal&rsquo;s 2008 Olympic champion Nelson Evora had to settle for fourth with a season&rsquo;s best of 16.75m. France&rsquo;s Harold Correa equalled his indoor PB of 16.94m in second, while Latvia&rsquo;s Elvijs Misans managed a career best of 16.77m in third.
After covering the first two laps within 52 seconds, multiple European champion Adam Kszczot of Poland secured a fine 800m win in 1:46:38, just 0.21 short of his season&rsquo;s best. He overtook Denmark&rsquo;s Andreas Bube just before the bell to win without any opposition from Morocco&rsquo;s Mostafa Smaili, who pipped Bube on the home straight, 1:47.13 and 1:47:30 their respective times.
Ukraine&rsquo;s Hanna Plotisyna took the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles in style in 7.98, Morocco&rsquo;s Rababe Arafi won the women&rsquo;s 1500m in 4:14.55 and Yunier Perez was successful in the shortest distance of the programme to clock 6.60 in the men&rsquo;s 60m.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF

World 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba set an outright 1000m PB at the ‘Villa de Madrid’ international meeting, but fell a couple of seconds shy of her world record target on Friday (24).

Dibaba, Elemba, Taplin and Beitia excel in Madrid

Genzebe Dibaba ran the sixth-fastest 1500m performance in history to highlight the Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland, on Friday (10), the penultimate stop on the five-meeting IAAF World Indoor Tour.
Arriving on the heels of her 2000m world record run in Sabadell, Spain, on Tuesday, expectations were high that Dibaba would land in this northern Polish city with her sights focused firmly on the 3:55.17 world record she set in Karlsruhe three years ago. She even indicated as much at the pre-meeting press conference yesterday, but erratic pacing over the first 600 metres would foil the effort, forcing her to settle for a 3:58.80 world lead.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with the result today but the pacing wasn't quite right,&rdquo; said Dibaba, who turned 26 just two days ago. &ldquo;I tried very hard over the last two laps but I wasn't quite able to do it.&rdquo;
Those closing laps, at roughly 32.5 and 31.8, were well outside the 30.26 and 29.72 she produced en route to her record in Karlsruhe, but they still propelled the world 1500m champion to a performance that only two other women have managed to beat.
<h3>Jozwik impresses with 1:59.29 national record</h3>
Dibaba&rsquo;s was one of five world leads on the evening which came before a capacity crowd of 5200 at Torun&rsquo;s Indoor Arena. The most appreciated came from Olympic finalist and world leader Joanna Jozwik, who set a 1:59.29 national indoor record in the 800m, the first sub-two-minute performance in the world this season.
Taking off with pace setter Emilia Ankiewicz from the gun, the pair built a substantial lead over the first lap, one which they extended by the midway point, reached in 56.76. Soon after, the 26-year-old was on her own and she passed through 600m in a national indoor record of 1:27.40.
With the crowd on their feet, Jozwik pumped her arms hard down the backstretch and through the finish before falling to the track where she was soon surrounded by flowers and photographers.
Anita Hinriksdottir of Iceland was a distant second in 2:01.56, with world champion Maryna Arzamasova third in 2:03.17
That momentum didn't carry over to Adam Kszczot, the other Polish 800m world leader on the programme. Leading the field behind the pacer from the gun, Kszczot took command with 250 metres remaining but just as he looked poised to take the win, Kenyan Nicholas Kipkoech swept by on the outside over the final 20 metres to nab the his first victory of the season in 1:46.34, 0.10 ahead of the Pole.
<h3>World leads for sprinters Baker and Pierre</h3>
Ronnie Baker of the US captured the first indoor international victory of his career in fine fashion, dominating the 60m in 6.46. The two-time NCAA indoor champion over the distance was never threatened after the 20-metre point en route to a lifetime best that elevates him to 12th on the world indoor all-time list.
Chijindu Ujah of Great Britain was a distant second in 6.56, just edging Ghanaian Sean Safo-Antwi, who clocked 6.57.
It took a careful read of the photo to separate the top three in the women's 60m, with world indoor champion Barbara Pierre eventually getting the nod.
Ezinne Okparaebo of Norway built a small lead by the midway point, but Pierre, who clocked a 7.11 world lead in the heats, narrowed the gap by the 50-metre point to leave the two virtually inseparable at the line. Both were credited with 7.13 but Pierre got the edge by just two thousandths of a second. Jamaican Gayon Evans closed well over the final 20 metres to take third in 7.15.
The fifth world lead came wrapped in an upset, courtesy of Bralon Taplin in the 400m. The Grenadian Olympic and world indoor finalist shadowed two-time world indoor champion Pavel Maslak for some 350 metres before pulling away down the final stretch to a 45.59 victory. Maslak timed a season&rsquo;s best of 45.80 for second.
<h3>Ortega cruises</h3>
Another dominant performance came in the men&rsquo;s 60m hurdles, where Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega cruised to a Spanish record of 7.48, the second-fastest time in the world this year and just 0.03 shy of his lifetime best. Carrying a clear lead over the first barrier, he extended his advantage with every stride to eventually win by a whopping 0.27. This second tour victory upped his points tally to 27, giving him an insurmountable lead.
Konstadinos Douvalidis of Greece was a distant second in 7.75.
The women's contest, not a scoring discipline, was much closer, with Croatia's Andrea Ivancevic prevailing in 7.98, also a season's best.&nbsp; She held off quick-closing US duo Jasmin Stowers and Jackie Coward, who clocked 7.99 and 8.00 respectively.
<h3>Birgen shows his kick</h3>
The meeting kicked off with an entertaining battle in the men&rsquo;s 1500m between Silas Kiplagat and Bethwell Birgen with the crowd, already filled to capacity, urging Marcin Lewandowski to break through the favoured Kenyan juggernaut.
Kiplagat, the winner in Karlsruhe, was the first to make a pivotal move as he broke for the front with 400 metres to go. That spurred on Birgen, who ran wide to take the lead with just under a lap and a half remaining. As their tussle continued, Lewandowski, sitting in fifth, began to advance through the field one by one, eventually settling in second half a lap from the finish. Birgen closed strongly to win in 3:37.63 while Lewandowski held off Kiplagat's advance to finish second in 3:38.24, 0.11 ahead of Kiplagat with Vincent Kibet fourth in 3:38.42.
Birgen and Kiplagat are now tied with 20 points in the World Indoor Tour standings.
The highlight on the infield came in the women&rsquo;s pole vault, won by Nichole Buchler of Switzerland at 4.60m to take sole possession of the tour lead in the event. She only needed jumps at 4.50m and 4.60m &ndash; both first-attempt clearances &ndash; to seal the win ahead of Czech Romana Malacova and Mary Saxer of the US, who both topped out at 4.50m.
Sylwester Bednarek won the high jump with 2.27m and Anna Jagaciak Michalska the triple jump, on her 27th birthday no less, with 13.97m. Nadia Eke of Ghana was second at 13.52m.
And finally, Iga Baumgart rounded out a Polish victory spree with her win in the 400m in 52.17, just 0.17 shy of the national indoor record.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Genzebe Dibaba ran the sixth-fastest 1500m performance in history to highlight the Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland, on Friday (10), the penultimate stop on the five-meeting IAAF World Indoor Tour.

Taplin and Oduduru climb world all-time sprint lists – indoor round-up

Dibaba, Elemba, Taplin and Beitia excel in Madrid

Dibaba produces one of five world leads in Torun