Siciarz speeds to world U20 60m hurdles record at Polish Indoor Championships – indoor round-up

Klaudia Siciarz produced a small stir last weekend when she clocked a lifetime best of 8.17 at the Copernicus Cup in Torun but the 18-year-old caused a sizeable shock on the first day of the Polish Indoor Championships in the same city on Saturday (18).

After easing through to the final with 8.20 in the 60m hurdles heats, Siciarz – who was only eighth at the World U18 Championships in Cali two years ago – broke new ground a little over an hour later, stopping the clock at 8.00. Not only did she claim her first senior title, Siciarz also broke the world U20 record*, improving Dior Hall’s mark by 0.01.

Fellow teen Ewa Swoboda is also approaching top form with the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade less than two weeks away. The world U20 100m silver medallist, who turns 20 a month before the IAAF World Championships in London this August, won the 60m in a season’s best of 7.15.

World leader Sylwester Bednarek cleared 2.25m in the high jump before three attempts at 2.31m.

Dutkiewicz upsets Roleder at the German Indoor Championships

German sprinters were in scintillating form on the first day of the German Indoor Championships in Leipzig.

The highlight of the first day came in the 60m hurdles where Pamela Dutkiewicz – whose pre-2017 lifetime best stood at 8.07 – upset European 100m hurdles champion and world silver medallist Cindy Roleder. Her winning time of 7.79 was the fastest by a European hurdler in nine years and moves her to second on this year’s world lists, surpassed only by world outdoor record-holder Kendra Harrison with 7.75.

Roleder still eclipsed her lifetime best by 0.01, improving to 7.84 to finish second while 22-year-old Ricarda Lobe broke the eight-second barrier for the first time with 7.99 in third.

Even though last year’s champion Tatjana Pinto was a non-starter, four women still ran faster than 7.2 in the 60m final. European 200m bronze medallist Gina Luckenkemper, 20, won in a lifetime best of 7.14 ahead of Rebekka Haase (7.16), Lisa Mayer (7.18) and Alexandra Burghardt (7.19).

After missing the 2016 indoor season, David Storl regained his German indoor title with 20.98m while Christina Schwanitz won the women’s shot put with 18.50m ahead of world U20 champion Alina Kenzel (17.28m).

Lisa Ryzih produced another of the first day highlights by clearing 4.65m in the pole vault before three unsuccessful attempts at 4.78m.

Lemaitre 6.60 at French Indoor Championships

Olympic 200m bronze medallist Christophe Lemaitre rounded off his indoor season by winning the 60m title at the French Indoor Championships in Bordeaux on Saturday.

Lemaitre, who will miss the European Indoor Championships next month, clocked 6.60 while Floriane Gnafoua won the women’s 60m in a lifetime best of 7.21 ahead of Stella Akakpo in 7.33.

Antonella Palmisano set a world-leading mark of 12:08.83 to win the 3000m race walk title at the Italian Indoor Championships in Ancona on Saturday.

Marcell Jacobs came within two centimetres of the world lead in the long jump, claiming the domestic title in a high quality competition with 8.06m ahead of Filippo Randazzo (8.05m) and 2007 world silver medallist Andrew Howe (8.01m), who returned from injury to achieve his first eight-metre-plus jump in seven years.

Orlando Ortega was the standout performer on day one of the Spanish Indoor Championships in Salamanca, winning his semifinal in 7.52 before clocking 7.61 in the final.

At the Lithuanian Indoor Championships in Klaipeda on Friday (17), world leader Airine Palsyte cleared 1.92m in the high jump before three attempts at 2.02m.

4 x mile world indoor best in New York

A quartet from the Hoka New Jersey-New York Track Club clocked a world indoor best in the rarely-run 4x1 mile relay at the Artie O’Connor College Invitational at The Armory in New York on Friday.

Donn Cabral, Ford Palmer, Graham Crawford and Kyle Merber clocked 16:12.81 to clip nearly four seconds from the previous mark of 16:16.67 set by a New York Athletic Club quartet in 1993.

Elsewhere, Sydney McLaughlin sped to a 36.82 victory in the 300m, the second-fastest performance ever in the U20 ranks. In a largely solo run, the 17-year-old Olympian missed Francena McCorory's world U20 indoor best by just 0.15. McLaughlin's performance was a world indoor age-17 best and a US indoor high school record.

Jamaican indoor record for McLeod – in the 200m

Olympic 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod put his improving speed on display as he set two personal bests at the Arkansas Qualifier in Fayetteville on Friday. Most impressive was his 20.48 performance in the 200m, a Jamaican indoor record and the third-fastest time of the season.

In a quality race, Marqueze Washington was second in 20.56 with Kenzo Cotton clocking 20.67 for third.

McLeod, 22, also won the 60m, clocking 6.61, knocking 0.10 from his previous lifetime best from 2015.

The highlights on the infield came in the pole vault with Andrew Irwin, the 2012 and 2013 NCAA indoor champion, taking the men's at 5.70m and Lexi Weeks, the 2016 NCAA indoor and outdoor champion, the women's at 4.60m.

Steven Mills and Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

*Subject to the usual ratification procedures