Rose Davies in action at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix (© Getty Images)
Australia’s Rose Davies continued her breakthrough by taking apart the 5000m meeting record at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Tokyo on Sunday (19).
The 24-year-old, who before this year had never broken 15 minutes for 5000m, set her third PB of the year to win by more than three seconds in 14:41.65, less than two seconds outside the Oceanian record.
The race set off at a steady pace with 1000m being passed in 3:00.19 and 2000m in 5:59.01. Davies and Kenya’s Margaret Akidor then started to push the pace and reached 3000m in 8:55.41. The next kilometre was covered in another 2:56 as the pair started to ease away from Davies’ compatriot Isobel Batt-Doyle.
With a 2:50 final kilometre, Davies finally shook off the challenge of Akidor and went on to cross the line in 14:41.65 with Akidor finishing second in 14:41.65. Batt-Doyle was a distant third in 15:08.67.
Davies broke 15 minutes for the first time in Melbourne earlier this year with 14:57.54, and then reduced her PB to 14:47.86 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Suzhou last month.
Japanese javelin star Haruka Kitaguchi delighted the home crowd by snatching victory in the sixth round, just as she had done at the World Championships in Budapest last year.
New Zealand’s Tori Peeters took an early lead with 61.16m, while Kitaguchi opened with 60.20m. World silver medallist Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado of Colombia moved into pole position in round five with 62.06m, which prompted Peeters (61.26m) and Kitaguchi (62.02m) to improve.
But with her final throw of the competition, Kitaguchi sent her spear out to 63.45m to take a well-received triumph in front of her adoring fans.
There were further Japanese victories in the men’s hurdles events. National record-holder Rachid Muratake clocked a season’s best of 13.22 (-0.6m/s) to win the 110m hurdles comfortably from Senegal’s Louis Francois Mendy (13.50).
All-round hurdles talent Ken Toyoda was a similarly dominant winner of the 400m hurdles. He clocked a PB of 48.36 to finish several strides ahead of compatriot Haruto Deguchi (48.91).
China’s Wu Yanii took the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.80, crossing the line 0.10 ahead of Japan’s Yumi Tanaka.
Australian champion Yual Reath equalled his PB of 2.30m to take a confidence-boosting victory over 2022 world indoor champion Woo Sanghyeok in the high jump. Reath, who has won nine of his 11 competitions this year, had a clean card up to and including 2.27m, which Woo needed three tries to clear. The Korean went no higher, but Reath went on to clear 2.30m on his second attempt before ending his series with three solid but unsuccessful tries at 2.33m.
China’s Zhang Mingkun sailed out to a lifetime best of 8.13m in the final round of the men’s long jump to displace 2016 world indoor champion Marquis Dendy as the leader. The US athlete finished second with 8.07m.
Elsewhere, New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs was a comfortable winner of the women’s 100m in 11.17 (-0.3m/s). Hiroki Yanagita won a close men’s final in 10.21 (-0.1m/s), although Hakim Sani Brown posted the fastest time of the day with his 10.07 clocking in the heats.
Watch World Athletics Continental Tour Gold highlights on Inside Track
