Maria Lasitskene in action in the high jump (© AFP / Getty Images)
World leads were set by Maria Lasitskene and Jenny Simpson at the FBK Games, while world 200m champion Dafne Schippers delighted the local fans at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Hengelo on Sunday (3).
Lasitskene, the two-time world high jump champion indoors and outdoors, added a centimetre to her world-leading jump from the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome earlier this week. Her winning jump of 2.03m was just a centimetre shy of the meeting record she set last year.
Olympic silver medallist Mirela Demireva was second with 1.94m, while Erika Kinsey was third with 1.91m.
The mile started at a steady pace with no one willing to follow the pacemaker through 400m (1:05.34) or 800m (2:11.08). The real racing started soon after that, however, when Ethiopia’s Besu Sado sped up as pre-race favourite Jenny Simpson was blocked in.
In the final 100 metres, the world silver medallist navigated her way out of the pack and strode past Sado to win in 4:25.71, the fastest time in the world this year.
Much to the delight of the Dutch crowd, Schippers achieved her first victory of the 2018 outdoor season.
What was expected to be a battle between the Olympic silver medallist and Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor turned out to be a one-woman show. The 25-year-old attacked the first 50 metres and then found her smooth-striding style in the second half of the race, winning in 22.44 (0.1m/s) to finish comfortably ahead of Ivet Lalova (22.79) and Kyra Jefferson (22.81).
One-lap meeting records for Haroun and Wimbley
Michael Cherry stormed out of the blocks in the men’s 400m, but Qatar’s Abdalelah Haroun emerged as the dominant force on the home straight. The world bronze medallist won in a meeting record of 44.35, the second-fastest time of his career and just 0.08 shy of his personal best.
USA’s Paul Dedewo was second in a PB of 44.50 while Cherry finished third in 44.90. World and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor finished fourth in a PB of 45.07.
In the women’s event, USA’s world indoor silver medallist Shakima Wimbley held off a strong challenge from Botswana’s Christina Botlogetswe to win in a meeting record of 50.88. The top three finishers were all inside the previous meeting record as Botlogetswe clocked a PB of 51.00 and Poland’s Justyna Swiety-Ersetic took third place in 51.48.
Olympic champion Brianna McNeal breezed to victory in the 100m hurdles in 12.66 (-0.6m/s). Queen Harrison was second in 12.93 while former heptathlete Nadine Visser was third in 12.94, beating 2014 European champion Cindy Roleder (12.95).
The men’s 200m was billed as a rematch of the 2016 European Championships where Bruno Hortelano won gold after Churandy Martina was disqualified for stepping out of his lane. Hortelano got the better of his Dutch rival in Hengelo, 20.35 to 20.85, but both men were upstaged by South Africa’s Luxola Adams, who won in 20.34.
Kenya’s Jonathan Kitilit won the 800m in a season’s best of 1:43.77, finishing more than a second ahead of Australia’s Joseph Deng (1:44.97) and Erik Sowinski, third in 1:45.07.
Sergey Shubenkov needed a season’s best of 13.23 to win the 110m hurdles. The 2015 world champion beat Orlando Ortega by 0.15.
In a close long jump contest, world champion Luvo Manyonga overcame fouls in the first four rounds to record 7.94m in round five followed by 8.18m with his final jump to take victory from Olympic champion Jeff Henderson (8.15m). Marquis Dendy was third with 8.13m.
World champion Sam Kendricks took some solid attempts at improving Sergey Bubka’s meeting record of 5.90m, but in the end he had to settle for victory with 5.82m. Shawn Barber was second with 5.65m while Piotr Lisek was third with 5.55m.
Cors van den Brink for the IAAF
