Belarusian high jumper Maksim Nedasekau (© Getty Images)
Updated 16 Aug - 17:00
Kendricks tops 5.81m in Leverkusen
After being forced to the sidelines with no poles in Monaco on Friday night, world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks finally kicked off his European summer circuit with a victory at the TrueAthletes Classics meeting in Leverkusen, Germany, on Sunday (16).
Kendricks topped 5.81m on his second try to beat Bo Kanda Lita Baehre on countback, the German needing all three of his attempts before clearing the decisive height. Kendricks then bowed out with three tries at 5.91m.
It was the second career best this month for the 21-year-old Baehre, who was fourth at the World Championships last year. He topped 5.72m in Braunschweig one week ago.
Raphael Holzdeppe, the 2013 world champions, was third with 5.76m.
In his first competition since his 91.49m world lead in Turku on Monday, Johannes Vetter threw 84.30 in the third round to collect his fourth win of the season in five starts.
Sprint hurdler Nadine Visser, another Turku winner, prevailed here as well, clocking 12.85.
Katharina Trost won the mile in 4:29.35, a world lead. Imani Lansiquot of Great Britain won the 100m in 11.16 and Gianmarco Tamberi took the high jump with 2.29m.
World leading 2.33m for Nedasekau
Top-flight athletics resumed at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday with an evening of stunning performances, but there was plenty more action in smaller meets across Europe and the USA on Friday and Saturday.
In Minsk on Friday (14), Belarusian high jumper Maksim Nedasekau cleared 2.33m, the highest leap in the world this year. The European silver medallist had previously shared the world lead at 2.30m with five other jumpers, but the 22-year-old now stands alone at the top of the 2020 world list.
Other highlights from Minsk included a 76.41m hammer throw from Pavel Bareisha and a 14.05m triple jump from Iryna Vaskouskaya.
Several countries are holding their national championships this weekend and many of Sweden’s top athletes turned up for the Swedish Championships in Uppsala.
The highlight so far has been Daniel Stahl’s victory in the discus, the world champion throwing 68.74m to get the better of domestic rival Simon Pettersson (64.73m). Kim Amb also maintained his domestic dominance, winning the javelin with 83.60m.
The women’s pole vault was one of the most anticipated clashes of the competition as it featured the two women who have exchanged national records in recent seasons: Angelica Bengtsson and Michaela Meijer. Although the latter recently upped the record to 4.83m, Bengtsson came away with the victory in Uppsala, clearing a season’s best of 4.71m. Meijer finished third with 4.36m.
Elsewhere, Khaddi Sagnia won the long jump with 6.72m, having leaped 6.74m in qualifying; Erika Kinsey cleared a season’s best of 1.95m to win the high jump; Fanny Roos won her 15th national shot put title, throwing 18.59m; and 18-year-old Nikki Anderberg won the 100m in a PB of 11.47, putting her second on the Swedish U20 all-time list.
In Turku, national record-holder Annimari Korte broke the championship record in the 100m hurdles to win the national title in 12.79, following a 12.81 run in the heats. Domestic rival Nooralotta Neziri was a distant second in 13.01.
In-form thrower Aaron Kangas won the hammer with 76.94m and Senni Salminen took the long jump title with a big PB of 6.56m.
World and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor competed as a guest at the Austrian Championships in Suedstadt. The US record-holder landed a season’s best of 17.13m (1.8m/s) to win comfortably.
World bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger dominated the discus with 64.81m, while heptathletes Verena Preiner (15.07m) and Ivona Dadic (14.28m) finished first and second in the shot put.
In the Latvian town of Ogre, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius continued his consistent season by winning the discus with 68.41m, his sixth competition beyond 67 metres this year. Gatis Cakss won the javelin with 84.56m with Janis Svens Griva taking second place (81.85m).
Dutch sprinter Lieke Klaver impressed at the Resisprint meeting in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. The 21-year-old won the 400m with 51.52, just 0.13 shy of her recent PB, and returned to the track an hour later to win the 200m in a big PB of 22.66, her first ever sub-23-second clocking.
In a close 400m hurdles contest, Norway’s Line Kloster got the better of European champion Lea Sprunger, 55.62 to 55.64.
