Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce after winning the 100m (© AFP / Getty Images)
Jamaica’s Pocket Rocket Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce grabbed the headlines at the 29th edition of the Atletica Mondiale meeting in Padua on Sunday night (6) when she broke Merlene Ottey’s meeting record in the 100m.
Just three days after winning at the IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich, the double Olympic 100m champion and seven-time World Championships gold medallist clocked 10.98 into a -0.8m/s headwind to take one hundredth of a second off Ottey’s mark.
“It was a big surprise to hear that I broke Ottey’s meeting record, I did not know about that,” said Fraser-Pryce. “I was excited to be here. I hope to have the chance to come back to compete in this meeting next year.”
In the men’s 100m, Qatar’s world indoor bronze medallist Femi Ogunode improved Nesta Carter’s meeting record by clocking 10.07 into a -1.1m/s headwind, edging world finalist Mike Rodgers (10.12). Carter, whose previous meeting record was 10.09, had to settle for third place in 10.34.
“I feel good about breaking the meeting record but I wanted to run faster,” said Ogunode, who holds the Asian record of 9.91.
Italian record-holder Gianmarco Tamberi cleared 2.30m on his third attempt to win the high jump. The 23-year-old, who jumped 2.37m in Eberstadt and then finished eighth at the World Championships in Beijing, made two close attempts at 2.34m, but he was pleased with his performance and entertained the crowd with a series of somersaults.
“I enjoy competing in Italy and I could not be happier with a 2.30m jump,” said Tamberi. “I feel at home here. A group of friends came from my home town Ancona to Padua to watch me. Unfortunately I won the competition at 2.20m and I was alone against the bar too early.”
World bronze medallist Jeffrey Gibson of The Bahamas won the men’s 400m hurdles in a solid 48.73, beating Cuba’s Omar Cisneros by more than half a second.
Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba slashed almost six seconds from her season’s best to win the women’s 800m in 1:59.62 after clocking 57.81 for the first lap. The 22-year-old held off Canada’s Fiona Benson (2:00.26) and Benin’s Noelie Yarigo (2:01.79).
Niyonsaba’s compatriot Antoine Gakeme made it a Burundian double in the 800m, winning the men’s race by two hundredths of a second in 1:46.33, holding off Italy’s Giordano Benedetti. In third, world 1500m medallist Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco improved his PB to 1:46.67.
A strong headwind of -2.7m/s slowed the women’s 100m hurdles where Jasmin Stowers clocked 13.29. It was her first race since her win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London as she missed the IAAF World Championships in Beijing after finishing fifth at the super-competitive US Championships.
Elsewhere, Trinidad and Tobago’s world 4x400m silver medallist Renny Quow clinched the win in the men’s 400m in 45.99. Canada’s Sheila Reid launched her kick in the final sprint to win the women’s 1500m in a season’s best of 4:06.97 ahead of Viola Lagat (4:07.23) and 2013 world 5000m silver medallist Mercy Cherono (4:07.40).
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
